BOMBSHELL: Owen Farrell sees red card overturned

Owen Farrell was sent off in the World Cup warm-up win over Wales on Saturday for a shoulder-led tackle to the head of Wales replacement Taine Basham.

Initially the incident saw him receive a yellow card, but this was soon upgraded to a red by the newly-introduced bunker review system.

ALSO READ | Springboks: Method to the ‘madness’ of not picking Pollard

Immediately afterwards, many pundits predicted that he could be set to miss a large part of the World Cup, with a lengthy ban expected for yet another apparent act of foul play.

However, it has now emerged that Farrell has been CLEARED completely and is free to play.

The disciplinary panel’s view was that it was not a red card, apparently because Jamie George pushed Basham into the collision.

ALSO READ | Springbok legend preparing for retirement after World Cup

ALSO READ: The best and the worst referees at the Rugby World Cup

Farrell has been someone that Springbok supporters love to hate, primarily as a result of a controversial incident when the Boks and England went head to head at Twickenham in 2018.

On that occasion, Farrell executed a dangerous no-arms tackle on Andre Esterhuizen, but despite it seeming that a penalty would be awarded to allow the Boks a potential match-winning shot at goal, the on-field officials ultimately decided that it was a fair hit.

Farrell celebrated wildly when the decision was made, while he has become increasingly well known for making similarly dangerous tackles.

ALSO READ | Springboks squad explained: 4 scrumhalves, 2 hookers, 2 flyhalves

You can watch the incident involving Farrell below:

ALSO READ: Springboks to fake an injury to call up Handre Pollard?