Owen Farrell free to face Ireland as red card overturned on appeal

England captain Owen Farrell is free to face Ireland on Saturday after his red card against Wales was not upheld by a disciplinary hearing.

Farrell was sent off in a 19-17 World Cup warm-up win at Twickenham on Saturday when his yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Taine Basham was upgraded to a red by the 'Bunker' review system.

But the hearing decided that a "late change in dynamics" due to Jamie George’s involvement in the contact area "brought about a sudden and significant change in direction from the ball carrier".

Using this mitigation, it was decided by the all-Australian panel that Farrell – who was expected to face a mid-range sanction of a six-week suspension – should have been sanctioned with a sin-binning only.

England had feared he would miss the pivotal opening World Cup group clash with Argentina in Marseille on 9 September but Farrell could now line out against his father Andy's Ireland side at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.

Watch Ireland v England in the Summer Nations Series on Saturday from 4.45pm live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport