Vunipola’s tackle on Andrew Porter during the 29-10 defeat in Dublin resulted in a red card after review by the bunker system. However, an independent disciplinary hearing reduced his six-game ban to three due to mitigating factors. Vunipola will miss the final warm-up game against Fiji and the crucial World Cup opener against Argentina. This is a significant setback for England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, who must now plan without his captain and talisman, as well as the only specialist number eight in the squad. Vunipola will return for the match against Japan after completing “tackle school,” while Farrell will only be available for the final group games against Chile and Samoa. “Tackle school” is a coaching intervention program that modifies specific techniques and technical issues related to illegal hits. Despite the disciplinary issues during England’s build-up to the World Cup, they can now focus on their preparations for the Fiji send-off and the Argentina showdown. Ben Earl is likely to take Vunipola’s place at number eight, as Tom Curry is still recovering from an ankle injury. Borthwick will announce the team to face Fiji on Thursday. Curry has yet to participate in full training and remains hopeful of making his first appearance in the build-up campaign. With Vunipola and Farrell banned and Curry injured, Borthwick may consider making changes to the squad before the August 28 submission date. In an interesting twist, the match against Japan will be refereed by Nika Amashukeli, the Georgian official who sent off Farrell against Wales. World Rugby also issued yellow cards to Henry Arundell, Freddie Steward, and Ellis Genge in that game.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
