‘It’s a slap in the face’ – All Black weighs in on ‘shocking’ Owen Farrell saga

Dylan Coetzee
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Split with England's Owen Farrell and All Black Richie Mo'unga

England's Owen Farrell and All Blacks fly-half Richie Mo'unga

All Blacks playmaker Richie Mo’unga has shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding inconsistent judicial verdicts in the last week.

Owen Farrell is at the centre of the saga after his red card from the clash against Wales last weekend was rescinded by Six Nations rugby meaning the England captain was free to play.

Now in isolation, the incident and verdict could be debated in its own right, but where the controversy comes in is that not long before the Farrell incident former All Blacks turned Tongan centre George Moala was initially banned for 10 weeks for a tip-tackle.

Inconsistent

Moala’s ban was reduced to five weeks as he has a clean record; however, that cannot be said for Farrell, who has been banned several times for dangerous tackles. Thus, sparking an outrage from fans and even players over the disparity between the decisions, with many questioning whether tier two teams are treated the same as tier one.

World Rugby announced they will appeal the verdict meaning Farrell could well be banned after all.

Mo’unga, who recently departed New Zealand with his teammates, felt the inconsistency between the Moala and Farrell verdicts was unfair and that many of his teammates felt for the former All Black.

“The Farrell incident, someone who has history and who has been banned earlier this year, for them to turn around and say he’s got a zero-week ban, it’s a slap in the face,” Mo’unga told Radio New Zealand.

“There are boys in this [All Blacks] camp who feel for him [Moala] deeply and a lot of Pacific Island boys in the camp who are pretty gutted about that scenario and the way it’s unfolded.

“It seems there’s a double standard going on, especially with the tier two teams and the Pacific Island nations around how they get judged or how they get treated.”

 

Personal attacks

Much of the online whirlwind about Farrell this week has been unfairly personal, something that England’s assistant Kevin Sinfield and Ireland boss (Owen’s father) Andy Farrell highlighted.

Mo’unga underlined that his comments in no way pertained to Farrell himself but rather the inconsistency between the verdicts.

“You look at someone like Farrell – and I’m not having a go at him personally, he’s a good man, and I adore his skillset and the way he plays footy – but the different way that he and Moala have been judged is shocking.”

The All Black admitted that he is concerned for the future of the game if there is such great inconsistency.

“It makes me more frightened for things in the future around this sort of stuff and how two teams or players can be treated so differently.

“If I was to do a shoulder tackle, I honestly don’t know what would happen because the punishments or judgments are so inconsistent.”

READ MORE: England captain Owen Farrell the target of ‘personal and character attacks’

England Owen Farrell

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