England playmaker Owen Farrell could be in further trouble after a video emerged of the Saracens star shoving Scotland backrower Ryan Wilson leading to the pre-match bust up that marred the Six Nations clash between the two nations at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The footage, which has been posted on Youtube, shows both teams leaving the field simultaneously after their pre-game warm-up.
As they walk-up the tunnel Wilson appears to be talking to England fly-half George Ford.
Farrell then appears running quickly in the background. He pushes one Scottish player out of the way before shoving Wilson away from Ford.
Scottish prop Simon Berghan is then seen joining the skirmish which then escalated involving more players from both sides.
It’s impossible to decipher what Wilson is saying to Ford but according to distinguished English rugby scribe Mick Cleary writing in The Daily Telegraph “Farrell was coming to his team-mate’s defence.”
In a separate development last night, Wilson has been cited for allegedly making contact with the eye of England No8 Nathan Hughes and will face a disciplinary hearing.
This looks like a tough call on Wilson who was being pinned to the ground at the time by Hughes and may have just been defending himself.
England scrum-half Danny Care said afterwards that the flare-up between Farrell and Wilson had “fired up the boys even more”, although that was hard to see in England’s tame first half performance.
The Six Nations committee has written to both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union, requesting clarification on what happened but both sides for now are staying tight-lipped.
Cleary, who is widely respected in the England camp, goes on to say: “The RFU management team will be reviewing the situation after taking eyewitness accounts.
Ryan Wilson could be in trouble over this incident involving Nathan Hughes.
“It was believed in the aftermath that Farrell had been provoked, but this new evidence suggests that he was protecting his team-mate.”
The skirmish may lead to a review on protocols for teams entering and leaving the field during the warm-up period.
Meanwhile England are looking to add some much needed spark with fit-again Wasps wing Elliot Daly and Harlequins tighthead Kyle Sinckler, both Lions last year in New Zealand, recalled to the 27-man squad to prepare to face France in Paris on Saturday March 10.
