England 19-17 Wales: Owen Farrell’s World Cup hopes jeopardized after being sent off as victory at Twickenham quickly turns disaster for Steve Borthwick

It’s an image that will give Steve Borthwick nightmares: Owen Farrell trudging through the tunnel, hands on hips, his World Cup hopes in jeopardy.

Forget the late win, this was a disaster. Farrell was shown a red card – upgraded following a bunker system overhaul – meaning England will likely play Argentina without their captain.

The suspension from the starting point is six games and the track record of the number 10 will count against him. He has already played his ‘tackle school’ card which guarantees a one game discount.

Twickenham felt like a disaster area. Jack van Poortvliet is scanned for an ankle injury and England, who named a Locked-and-Loaded XV, were booed as their attack faltered in the first half.

With his side reduced to 12 men at one point, Borthwick found positives in the tenacious comeback, although it felt like straws as darkness descended on Twickenham.

As England beat Wales the result was overshadowed by red and injury concerns

George Ford’s late penalty saved England from a world record low

The head coach could have spent all evening at his press conference at the top table, but nothing could divert the story of the loss of his talisman. It was the worst case scenario.

The saving grace is that George Ford is more than able to step in and demonstrate his unnerved attitude by kicking the late penalty to save England from a world record low.

At half-time, a joke circulated on social media about England fans selling their World Cup tickets at a discount. They are way off the pace. The handling errors continued.

If it weren’t for Courtney Lawes, it would have been much worse. The Lock, whose 97 caps made this one of the most accomplished England sides of all time, manhandled the Welsh maul to save two.

‘Press the lake. Come on, he’s kidding himself,’ they cried as the young Welsh whore, Dowi Lake, spat his lines onto the set piece.

Ben Earl was another impressive performer, dispelling the ruck, but England took no advantage. Their execution in the opposition was sad again. They caught stationary balls and threw passes into contact.

As for Billy Vunipola, the British sports scientists should pray that their four-week peak theory comes true. Wearing the linked No. 8 should be key to England’s game plan, but yesterday the stats didn’t back it up.

The buzz as Henry Arundell caught the ball in his own 22 in space died down as he kicked the ball long. And the youngster’s main contribution was an unwelcome yellow card, which didn’t back down until he tackled Liam Williams as he only touched the ball twice in his hour.

When Van Poortvliet’s ankle gave way in the same stretch, things got even worse.

Just before the break, England knitted eight phases together. They created space wide, but when the try beckoned, Farrell threw an inside pass to Joe Marchant and the offense died. The game was withdrawn for the penalty and a group of England fans cheered as Farrell kicked his side to a 6-0 lead.

After an effortless first 40 minutes, Maro Itoje scored the first try for the hosts at Twickenham

Farrell was on the sidelines when the red card was shown in the middle of the field

Early in the second half, Welsh flanker Tommy Reffell was sinned for hands in the ruck. Farrell kicked another three-pointer, but Owen Williams pulled one back from a scrumping penalty. England were turned around in 22 and their scrum began to falter. Deja vu?

There was an injection of life when Lawrence deflected a tackle into space, but the move had an all-too-familiar ending. Itoje was isolated in the carry and Liam Williams emerged from the ruck beaming from ear to ear after claiming the turnover.

Ford took his place and England implemented their much talked about 10-12 combination, with Farrell in the centres, although it was a matter of minutes.

Ford’s introduction coincided with a yellow card for Ellis Genge at the scrum and seconds later Wales were in front. Dan Biggar launched a Crossfield kick to Josh Adams and a back-tracking Steward recklessly took out the winger in the air. Wales were awarded a penalty try and Steward breathed a huge sigh of relief when he was only shown a yellow card. There is a risk of subsequent disciplinary action.

Suddenly England found themselves on the field with 12 players. Farrell hit Taine Basham recklessly in the face with his shoulder and the game was withdrawn for a yellow card. After Tomos Williams completed a pitch-length try and Itoje pushed his way forward to score from a driving lineout, the Television Match Official intervened.

Farrell sat alone on a white plastic chair on the sidelines and was shown a red card from the center of the field. He nodded and accepted his punishment, there was no defense. It went from bad to worse.

The result gave Steve Borthwick a headache with a month until the 2023 World Cup

It was Ford’s experience and composure that saved England’s pride. The substitute fly-half nearly cleared Marchant for a spectacular Crossfield score, though it was ruled out for a knock-on.

Instead, with Adam Beard next in the sin bin, he kicked a three-pointer to take the win. Warren Gatland described it as a ‘capitulation’, claiming he was ‘furious’ that his players weren’t holding up and the England team that ‘didn’t really pressure us to attack’.

At the final whistle, some of the England players punched the air at the final whistle. Others looked exhausted, having seen their team’s World Cup stock fall even further.

English rugby needed a shot in the arm, but all in all, this felt more like a slap in the face.