Tuesday 2 June 2015 12:30, UK
Owen Farrell has avoided what could have been a costly citing for his high tackle on Anthony Watson during the Aviva Premiership final on Saturday.
The Saracens fly-half took out his England team-mate early in the first half at Twickenham, with Bath coach Mike Ford furious that he was not sent off.
Farrell went on to inspire Saracens by scoring 18 points in their 28-16 victory, but talk after the game turned to a possible suspension that could have affected his preparations for the World Cup.
The lower level for such an offence starts at two weeks and would have started once England's warm-up games started.
But Farrell has only been punished with a Citing Commissioner Warning (Level 1) over the dangerous tackle, as has Bath's Rob Webber for tackling a player in the air.
In their notes, a statement from the Rugby Football Union read: The threshold for a Citing Commissioner Warning (Level 1 Citing) is greater than a yellow card but narrowly fails the red card test required for a full citing.
"The penalty is the equivalent to a post-match foul play yellow card, three of which would result in the player being subject to a disciplinary. Neither Farrell nor Webber has received enough foul play yellow cards or Citing Commissioner Warnings to initiate disciplinary proceedings."
Farrell apologised to Watson after the match, “I feel bad that Ant had to go off. There was no intent from me and there never would be in that situation. I am not that kind of player. Things like this happen in rugby.
“I spoke to him after the game, apologised and told him there was no intent behind it. Obviously he was pretty down. I said sorry because, intentionally or not, I still did it.”
England have already lost hooker Dylan Hartley and centre Manu Tuilagi from their squad for disciplinary reasons.
