Owen Farrell citing claims made as footage of Joe Marchant incident emerges

Calls are being made for Owen Farrell to be cited after footage emerged of the Saracens star appearing to strike an opponent emerged online.

The England and British and Irish Lions fly-half produced a brilliant display to steer Sarries past reigning champions Harlequins and book a Gallagher Premiership final against Leicester Tigers on Saturday at Twickenham Stadium.

Farrell finished the game bloodied and battered after being on the receiving end of some heavy treatment in the 34-17 victory at the StoneX Stadium.

But it appears the 30-year-old offered some retaliation in an incident that went undetected in the 63rd minute when Saracens were 15 points ahead and desperately defending in their own 22. Farrell found himself on the wrong side of the ruck and was sealed off by Quins centre, and fellow England international, Joe Marchant.

Farrell, who had the ball in his right arm, appeared to throw his left arm in the face of Marchant who immediately protested to the assistant referee who was stood only a couple of metres away.

A 10-second clip of the incident has provoked a heated debate on Reddit, with many users believing that it should be of interest to the game's citing officer, Budge Pountney.

wrote: "Wow that’s a shocker - I know the game was full of incidents but surprised that wasn’t looked at", added: "That's about as clear cut a punch as you'll see. He should be cited because a punch to the face is a red card offence."

Others shared similar views while some felt it wasn't as serious as was being suggested.

Rugby Inside Line, which has more than 29,000 followers on Twitter, was clear with its view, sharing the clip along with 'this will be a citing' along with a boxing glove emoji.

The deadline for a citing is 24