Today’s rugby news as Owen Farrell and Wales captain face definitive day in the middle of require ‘ravaging’ long restriction

These are your rugby headings on Tuesday, August 15.

Farrell to learn fate in the middle of require ‘ravaging’ restriction

Owen Farrell will discover if he is to be prohibited for the whole of England’s World Cup swimming pool phase as he attends his disciplinary hearing today.

The England skipper was sent versus Wales on Saturday after putting in a no-arms shoulder charge on Welsh back-rower Taine Basham, at first being revealed a yellow card prior to the off-field TMO bunker chose to upgrade it to a red card a couple of minutes later on.

He is set to a minimum of miss out on England’s opening video game of the competition versus Argentina, however might wind up missing out on the competition totally if he is handed a lengthier restriction and his side stop working to advance from the swimming pool phase. Follow live updates on Owen Farrell’s restriction hearing here.

Farrell has actually been extensively criticised for his dealing with method and has actually been offered a variety of restrictions in the last couple of years, with his repeat angering leading previous Wales global Alix Popham to require more severe action to be taken versus the fly-half.

In a special interview with MailOnline, Popham said that while a long restriction would be “ravaging” for Farrell, it is clear that he has actually stopped working to learn his lesson from previous offenses and is still not in control of his dealing with, with “substantial penalties” required to get the message throughout.

“Farrell has actually been released gently in the past and I hope it’s not the case this time,” he said. “The Wales video game was not the very first time and it’s clear he hasn’t discovered. It will be ravaging for him if he gets a long restriction and misses out on video games at the World Cup however he requires to be in control of his deal with method and at the minute, it’s clear he isn’t. Farrell plainly hasn’t altered from previous comparable events and I don’t think he will unless it’s drummed into him with a long ban.”

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Lake faces nervous wait

Wales hooker Dewi Lake is today set to learn the extent of the injury he suffered against England, which could potentially rule him out of the World Cup.

Lake was handed the captain’s armband for the first time ahead of the clash at Twickenham but was forced off less than half an hour into the warm-up match after Owen Farrell fell on him during a ruck.

The 24-year-old was clearly in pain as he limped off the pitch on Saturday and he now faces an anxious wait as he undergoes a scan which could determine whether Warren Gatland selects him as part of his final 33-man squad.

“Dewi looks like he’s got a bit of a knee issue… which we’ll get scanned,” said Gatland at a press conference on Saturday. “[He] is pretty gutted and pretty disappointed.

“He’s gone to jackal on the ball, Owen Farrell has tried to roll him, and he’s ended up landing on his leg. It’s unfortunate and it looks like he’s got a knee injury but we do not know the extent of it or how bad it is.”

The knock comes as a huge blow to Lake, who missed the whole of Wales’ autumn campaign with a shoulder injury before another knee issue ruled him out of the Six Nations.

Kolisi set to face Wales

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi is set to make an incredible return to rugby in Cardiff this weekend less than four months after undergoing knee surgery which threatened to rule him out of the World Cup.

The Springbok star looked likely to miss the tournament in France after he went under the knife in late April, having partially torn his ACL and suffered cartilage damage while playing for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship.

Despite the grim outlook, however, Kolisi refused to give up and set his sights on returning to full fitness before his side’s clash with Wales, desperate to get some much-needed minutes under his belt in time for the tournament.

He looks set to feature against Gatland’s men to cap a miraculous journey to recovery, with South Africa’s scrum coach Daan Human saying the forward is “in a very good place” and could “put in a good shift” either this weekend or next.

Asked whether the Springboks were under pressure to give Kolisi a run-out at the Principality, Human said: “I don’t think there’s pressure on us to do that, but it is maybe a question for later in the week for Jacques [Nienaber] or Rassie [Erasmus] to answer. We have tried to be fair to them as well and getting them into a strong position to be considered for the first Test of the World Cup against Scotland. But as I said, Jacques will answer that later this week.”

Pressed on the skipper’s availability, he added: “Last week, Siya trained with us fully. Naturally, players don’t just come back and play 80 minutes from the get-go. I believe Siya is in a very good place. He is taking contact and he scrummed with us as well. He has given us everything, which we expect. In my department, I am very happy with what I’ve seen.

“Hopefully, he can put in a good shift, whether that is this weekend or next weekend, because we don’t know when he is going to be let loose. I just think that he is one of the dogs you want in the fight, whenever he does get set loose.”

Tensions running high in Wales camp

By Andrew Baldock, PA Rugby Union Correspondent

Dan Lydiate accepts there will be a degree of “edginess and tension” around the Wales camp this week as they prepare to face South Africa this weekend with World Cup squad decisions coming 48 hours later.

At 35, flanker Lydiate hopes to be part of a third World Cup 12 years after his first one and he is also aware that injuries can strike a player at any time, with the current warm-up schedule having ended World Cup hopes of England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and France fly-half Romain Ntamack.

“You probably take nothing for granted,” he said. “You are only one injury away from not being involved or being out for a long time, as I know It’s getting to the business end of pre-season now. There is a big game on the weekend for us, and then [World Cup] selection soon after that.

“There is going to be a lot of edginess and tension around camp at the minute, but if there wasn’t then you probably shouldn’t be here because that is the main goal, to go to a World Cup. And once you are in the World Cup, the goal is to win the next game and then the next game.”

Lydiate has endured serious injury setbacks during his career, but he has bounced back each time and once again finds himself in Wales’ hugely competitive back-row selection mix.

“I guess if it [World Cup selection] is meant to be, it will be,” he added. “If not, then it won’t have been through a lack of effort or trying. I will know either way that I have given 100 per cent. I know it is not going to last forever. When my time is done, then at least I can ride off knowing that I left no stone unturned and gave the best version of me.”

And with the Springboks looming, Wales will look to recover quickly from a 19-17 defeat versus England at Twickenham when they blew an eight-point lead and might not capitalise on their opponents’ poor discipline that saw them at one stage have three players off the pitch.

“It was a quiet bus home,” Lydiate said. “You go up to Twickenham – it is a hard place to win at the best of times – and it felt like we might have got a big result and we let it slip away.

“Coming into training [on Monday] morning, it felt a bit doom and gloom, and we’ve had some honest reviews. There is a lot of learning there. But there is no-one more critical of the players than themselves. You look to yourself first. You almost do not need to be told if you’ve messed up something because you understand straightaway.”