Owen Farrell likely to escape ban for dump tackle on Ben Foden

Owen Farrell is set to escape a ban for his dump tackle on Ben Foden and subsequent skirmish with Teimana Harrison during Saracens’ 57-13 Champions Cup victory away to Northampton Saints on Sunday.

Instead both Farrell and Harrison, the Northampton forward, are likely to receive a citing commissioner’s warning – the equivalent of a yellow card which falls below the threshold for a suspension – when the citings are announced on Tuesday morning.

That leaves Farrell free to play in Saracens’ next Champions Cup fixture against the Ospreys as well as in England’s autumn international series against Argentina, Australia and Samoa.

The incident occurred during the first half of the Pool 2 match at Franklin’s Gardens as fly half Farrell lifted Foden, the ball-carrier, off his feet and dumped him on the back. That provoked an angry reaction from the Northampton players and supporters with Harrison and Farrell getting into a scuffle.

Pascal Gauzere, the French referee, reviewed the incident at the time, but ruled the tackle was legal despite Foden’s legs appearing to go above the horizontal which is considered to be the benchmark for a dangerous tackle.

He did, however, award a penalty for Farrell pushing his forearm into England teammate Harrison’s face and this is what appears to have attracted the citing commissioner’s attention.

Farrell was subsequently booed by the Northampton supporters throughout the rest of the match, but it made no difference to his performance in a dominant Saracens performance. Nor will the incident affect his standing with Eddie Jones judging by the footage that showed the England head coach smirking in the aftermath.

Jones will have more cause for concern over the fitness of centre Ben Te’o who left the field just three minutes into Worcester’s victory against Brive with an ankle injury. Te’o will go for a scan later this week but is already considered a doubt for the autumn international series.