Video: Former England flyhalf calls out Owen Farrell over questionable hit in Championship debut

Saracens and England flyhalf Owen Farrell has been accused of getting away with another highly questionably challenge in his Championship debut against Doncaster Knights at the weekend.

Saracens hammered Doncaster 15 – 50 and Farrell had a fine game in what was his Championship debut, having not played for the north London outfit in seven months due to England duty and injury layoffs.

However, while Farrell made headlines for having a great performance, eagle-eyed former England stand-off Andy Goode has posted a video to Twitter that appears to show Farrell hitting a Doncaster player high.

Mike Brown and Maggie Alphonsi guest on The Offload:

Mike Brown and Maggie Alphonsi guest on The Offload:

“Say what you see, must be different tackle laws in the Championship, no card and no citing,” posted Goode on Twitter.

Say what you see, must be different tackle laws in the Championship, no card and no citing….. pic.twitter.com/gsAA4qoxg7

— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) April 22, 2021

As Goode points out, Farrell makes contact with the head but didn’t suffer any consequences for the tackle, either during or after the game.

Farrell’s tackle technique has been a constant talking point throughout his career and with stricter laws around tackling being enforced, the Wigan-born star’s at times borderline technique is under the microscope like never before.

Following the match, Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall in fact suggested that it was Farrell that was the victim of late hits from Doncaster players.

“He was in control of everything out there. He actually got hit late a couple of times and reacted brilliantly I thought.

“He didn’t get frustrated, moved on to the next thing pretty quickly and played beautifully at times.

“There was a couple of kicks he doesn’t normally miss, but I thought he played really well.”

The 29-year-old is chasing a British and Irish Lions spot, a berth which would have been considered beyond questioning prior to the Guinness Six Nations. A below par tournament for both England and Farrell has however questioned the fait accompli status of his inclusion in the tour of South Africa.