Steve Borthwick calls for swift disciplinary verdict after Billy Vunipola red

England head coach Steve Borthwick has called for a quick resolution of the disciplinary process regarding Billy Vunipola’s red card in the 29-10 loss to Ireland on Saturday.

The number eight was the second player in as many weeks from the England camp to be red-carded for a dangerous tackle and could miss the beginning of the Rugby World Cup through suspension.

Red for Billy Vunipola. #IREvENG pic.twitter.com/JXSlw04M4V

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) August 19, 2023

Vunipola’s incident follows a chaotic week for England as skipper Owen Farrell, who was sent off for a dangerous tackle last week, was initially cleared to play after Six Nations Rugby rescinded his red card.

However, World Rugby has since stepped in to appeal the verdict, suggesting Farrell could well be banned for a portion of the World Cup.

No comment on the incident

After the chaos surrounding Farrell last week, Borthwick refused to comment on the Vunipola situation but asked for a quick resolution of both cases so he can make the relevant decisions.

“I’m not going to comment upon the incident specifically because it goes into a disciplinary process this coming week,” said Borthwick.

“Probably as every England fan, I feel disappointment in the game today and I said beforehand we want 15 players on the pitch for 80 minutes of every game.

“You’re playing the number one ranked side in the world in their stadium and to go to 14 men it becomes a very difficult task at that point in time.

“Hopefully we will find a conclusion on both matters this week and it won’t go into another week. Once I have all the facts, I will deal with them.

“We talked about the way this Test week was disrupted (by the Farrell situation) and I need to adapt throughout the week. It’s another challenge that’s been thrown at us.”

Looking for positives

It was not the best day for England even before Vunipola was given his marching orders. However, Borthwick looked for positives and felt his team showed some strong character.

“Whilst I’m incredibly disappointed with the result, the players kept fighting,” he said.

“I thought the players that came off the bench added on the pitch.

“Just before half-time at 7-3, we missed some opportunities and turned over ball in the final third, so we weren’t able to put enough pressure on them.

“When it was 15 against 15 it was a tight battle, unfortunately it didn’t stay 15 on 15.”

Keith Earls’ moment

The Ireland camp was not overly delighted with the win as head coach Andy Farrell said the performance had a bit of everything.

The coach took a moment to pay tribute to Keith Earls, who fittingly scored in the corner on his 100th Test match.

Keith Earls – no man deserved that try more.#IREvENGpic.twitter.com/uDkbkwx022

— EK Rugby Analysis (@ek_rugby) August 19, 2023

“It had a bit of everything: good, bad and ugly,” Farrell said.

“I wasn’t too happy at half-time. We had them in a place where we could push a little bit harder and make it a little bit easier for ourselves but we didn’t kick on.

“I was really pleased that we found or rhythm back into the game. I thought we scored some great tries.

“Obviously the story of the day is it’s very fitting that Keith gets his 100th cap and we made sure he does that with a W and also him scoring a try in Keith Earls style in the corner just made the day for everyone really.”

There was an injury scare with talented hooker Dan Sheehan being forced off the field and Farrell says the team is waiting on more information.

“Dan’s lost a bit of power in his foot,” he said. “We won’t know until we get it scanned. We’ll probably know more in the morning.”

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