REVEALED: The independent judicial panel that revoked Owen Farrell’s red card on the eve of the Rugby World Cup was made up entirely of Australians, including a lawyer and two former Wallabies internationals
- Owen Farrell had his red card revoked by an independent judicial panel
- The England captain was sent off after a high tackle on Welsh flanker Taine Basham
- As such, the fly-half can compete in the upcoming Rugby World Cup
The Independent Judiciary Panel (IJP) that made the shock decision to withdraw Owen Farrell’s red card against Wales was made up of three Australians, including two former Wallabies forwards.
Farrell was sent off at Twickenham for a high tackle on Wales flanker Taine Basham, opting to challenge the decision with the World Cup on the horizon.
However, England fans – and the captain himself – were given a huge reprieve when the IJP decided not to penalize the fly-half, whose participation at least in the early stages of the competition looked questionable.
The chair of the panel, Adam Casselden, is a Sydney-based lawyer specializing in commercial law, common law and transport law.
Among past clients, Casseden can count some of Australia’s largest banks and insurers, state and commonwealth departments and airlines.
Owen Farrell was shown a red card in Saturday’s friendly against Wales at Twickenham
The England captain was sent off for a high tackle on Welsh flanker Taine Basham
Sydney-based barrister Adam Casselden SC is the chair of the Independent Judiciary Panel
However, he also acted as legal adviser to the Australian Rugby Union and the Football Federation of Australia, and was also appointed bailiff for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England and Wales.
Casselden was joined by former Australian internationals John Langford and David Croft, who, according to an official press release, helped consider all available evidence and submissions from the player and his representative.
Langford is a former international rugby player, who made four appearances for the Wallabies in 1997, though strangely none of them made it to Australia.
His first cap came in Deunedin against the All Blacks, before traveling to Pretoria to face South Africa, Twickenham (England) and Murrayfield (Scotland).
The 55-year-old left his home country for Ireland, where he scored 30 caps as a Munster lock, before retiring in 2001.
Croft’s tenure with the Wallabies saw him take five caps at the open flank, including a place in the 2003 Rugby World Cup squad.
However, unlike Langford, Croft managed to play in front of a home crowd, in a 142-0 World Cup pool match against Namibia in Adelaide, having previously played in Argentina, Ireland, England and Italy.
Represented by Richard Smith KC, softening was found for the player on the basis that Basham was pushed into Farrell’s path by hooker Jamie George.
David Croft (left) and John Langford (right) are former Australian internationals on the panel
His postponement comes as a big surprise, as Farrell has previously served three suspensions for dangerous tackling.
As such, the player is now free to take part in this weekend’s warm-up match against Ireland ahead of the competition proper, which kicks off on 8 September.
Farrell acknowledged that he had committed foul play, although he denied it was worthy of a red card, and after questioning the player in detail and hearing the comments of the player’s representative, the panel decided to withdraw the card.
As such, the Committee concluded that the Foul Play Review Officer – to whom a decision is referred if it is unclear whether it warrants a red card – based on probability erroneously upgraded the yellow card given to the player to a red card. card.