Let me start by giving three declarations of interest.
- I love sport, all sport – I’m an ‘addict’.
- I am passionate about supporting England across all sport – having loved the Ashes and the Netball World Cup and await a stellar performance from the Lionesses. Stop Press – the amazing Lionesses have just qualified for the World Cup Final!
- My core sport is rugby union, I’ve been a player, a coach, and an administrator. I love the game.
So, no surprises, I watched the England v Wales game on Saturday at Twickenham. I took no comfort from the win; first because I felt we didn’t deserve it. Secondly, I was sickened by THAT tackle by Owen Farrell, our captain and leader, on the Welsh player Taine Basham.
Like everyone in the crowd, the match officials on the pitch and the TMO I immediately knew it was a sending off offence and I felt that England’s World Cup hopes of winning their first game never mind the tournament trooped disconsolately down the tunnel with England’s No10.
The feeling across all media reporting on the game and the incident was that Owen Farrell’s involvement in the tournament wouldn’t be until the group stages had commenced, at least, because of there being ‘no mitigation’ plus the fact that Farrell has a number of previous incidents to be taken into account and had already attended World Rugby’s ‘Tackle School’. Let’s assume that was window dressing. I believe Owen Farrell knows how to tackle!
Yesterday the ‘independent’ judicial committee reviewing the sending off rescinded the red card leaving England’s captain free to play in the remaining warm up games and the start of the World Cup. Unlike other experts and analysts they unearthed mitigating evidence to find in Farrell’s and England’s favour.
Sport, not just rugby, has a history of marking its own homework. I was involved in too many ‘independent’ investigations into the culture of several Olympic and Paralympic sports when I was CEO of the British Athletes Commission. The stakeholders involved then and now have to believe in the integrity of the process of investigation. I was grateful for the support and help of Sport Resolutions Sport Resolutions | Sports Dispute Resolution Service not only were the panels they appointed independent they were impartial.
To my mind there was a conflict of interest seemingly challenging the integrity of the Farrell review process. Was the panel looking at the tackle laws and the disciplinary system in place so they could play their role in player welfare or was their job to get the world’s ‘best players’ on the main stage – World Rugby’s Men’s World Cup in September?
I am disappointed in ‘my’ sport which has many challenges about its future at all levels of the game – and one of the main ones is dealing with traumatic brain injuries and their consequences. It is well documented that there is a legal class action building by a group of former professional players now suffering from early onset dementia against World Rugby and national federations. What is less well publicised is the lack of duty of care and the adherence to return to play protocols in the ‘community game.’ Again I have a declaration of interest. My son had two concussive episodes playing in the community game. He managed his own return to play without any support and guidance from his club. The result was an enforced career change and over two and half years of traumatic consequences – depression, headaches, loss of balance and poor eyesight. Desperate for him and me as his father.
I’m sad and I’m angry. I bear no malice or ill will to Owen Farrell. I wish him well. I hope he learns from this most recent episode and uses his position as a leader on and off the pitch to show a duty of care in action for himself, his fellow players, and the game that he and I love.