Owen Farrell’s tackling has once again been called into question. This time, during an attempt to stop Northampton’s Alex Mitchell.
The Saracens fly half is undoubtedly one of the country’s best talents and has had a vast number of great moments on the rugby pitch. However, his tackle technique has often gained a lot of attention and during his match against Northampton, it was in the spotlight again.
With Saints on the attack, scrum half Alex Mitchell went to power his way through the English No.10. Despite winning the contact, Mitchell was met with an extremely upright Farrell who made direct, and forceful head on head contact.
— Rugby71 (@Rugby7111) May 21, 2022
To the astonishment of many supporters, the tackle was not even reviewed by the TMO, so Northampton were not given a penalty and Farrell had no consequences.
The incident has sparked a big debate on Twitter. One user described it as “An upright tackle and head to head contact…. zero mitigation….should have been a red”
Shouldn’t have even been on the field… pic.twitter.com/4Rv45dUXql
— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) May 21, 2022
Farrell was heavily involved in the game and on the 55 minute mark had an altercation with Saints captain, Lewis Ludlam. The backrow forward seemed to push Farrell who then held onto his leg, remarkably similar to what he did to CJ Stander a few years ago.
The encounter also saw the best of the fly half however, he was sublime of the kicking tee and propelled his side to a crucial 42-38 win over playoff rivals Northampton. He was awarded player of the match.
"I'm enjoying myself, I'm enjoying playing, I missed a lot of rugby this year and I'm enjoying being back out there with this team."
A happy Owen Farrell means a happy @Saracens, it's been fantastic seeing him come back and go from strength to strength 🙌#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/J3rwHpt0db
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) May 21, 2022
It was an engaging encounter from start to finish with superb scores from each team and a total of ten tries. The four point victory secured Saracens a home semi final place, which will likely be against Harlequins.
Northampton on the other hand will be disappointed to lose such an important game but with other results going their way, they are still in pole position to clinch the final playoff spot ahead of Gloucester and Sale.
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