Referee guru Owens sees red: Rugby in 'big trouble' if Farrell tackle isn't a send-off

Former leading referee Nigel Owens warned rugby union is in "big trouble" if Owen Farrell's dangerous tackle against Wales is no longer regarded as worthy of a sending-off.

The England captain faces an independent disciplinary panel early next week after World Rugby, the sport's global governing body, appealed against the decision to downgrade his red card for a high shoulder-led challenge on Taine Basham to yellow.

The original hearing's overturning of the in-game decision made by the bunker review system during England's 19-17 win over Wales at Twickenham last weekend sparked uproar throughout the global game as Farrell escaped a ban that would have threatened his involvement in next month's start of the World Cup in France.

READ | England coach laments 'personal attacks' on Farrell in overturned red card row

Such a suspension is again a possibility and Wales's Owens, in charge of 100 Tests from 2003 to 2020, is adamant Farrell should be punished for the tackle.

"Owen Farrell is a great player who I have a huge amount of respect for," Owens wrote in his Wales Online column published Friday.

"But he has a history of making this kind of tackle. He's been punished before and perhaps got away with a couple, too.

"The referee and everybody at home watching the game would have been looking at that incident and going through their checklist.

"I don't think there was any late change from Basham which Farrell could not adjust to, he was the only player contributing to the action of the tackle."

World Rugby's own guidelines state there is no mitigation for "always illegal acts of foul play", with Owens saying: "The key thing about mitigation here is that Farrell's actions were always illegal.

"No matter what happened, he was always