What Dan Biggar said to Owen Farrell after his tackle to cause the ‘spat’

Dan Biggar has revealed what he said to Owen Farrell after the England captain’s tackle on Taine Basham during the Rugby World Cup warm-up on Saturday.

Farrell took exception to what his Welsh counterpart had to say, with the pair exchanging verbals before the England skipper was shown a yellow card.

The TMO bunker upgraded Farrell’s yellow to a red card during the off-field review, and the fly-half now faces a potential suspension that could rule him out of England’s Rugby World Cup pool stage matches.

Biggar airing his view

Biggar was displeased by the way Farrell spoke to him after he aired his views on the tackle.

“I really like Owen Farrell as a bloke, but I wasn’t going to allow him to speak to me like he did at Twickenham on Saturday night, which is why we had a spat,” Biggar wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

“I’ve got no issue with Owen – we’ve been team-mates with the Lions – but he made it personal by coming at me in the second half at Twickenham.

“‘Stop complaining’, was what Farrell said in my direction, just after he’d hit Taine Basham high. I thought it was a clear red card and was just airing my view.”

Biggar’s response is what caused Farrell to charge angrily at him.

“I told Farrell that people are allowed to have a go at him,” the Welshman wrote.

“He’s not above everyone else. Owen is such a competitive guy, just like I am, and it was a heat-of-the-moment incident.”

I did enjoy Dan Biggar telling off Farrell.😂 pic.twitter.com/UL5Vd7TOlM

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) August 13, 2023

Farrell’s potential ban

Farrell’s ban could see him miss England’s pool stage matches at the Rugby World Cup.

While Biggar was pleased that the officials came to the correct decision at Twickenham, he added that the tournament would be ‘poorer’ without Farrell.

“As much as we went head-to-head at Twickenham, the World Cup will be all the poorer if Owen is forced to be on the sidelines,” Biggar added. “It will be a big blow to England.

“I think our flashpoint became a big thing because England were on the ropes at the time. They were under pressure after what was a pretty poor first half. That’s probably putting it kindly!

“It was a very, very ugly game of rugby, and it was absolute carnage at the end with all the cards!

“It was crazy on the pitch, with lots of disruption and not much control to the game.

“There were six cards in total, four for England and two for Wales but I’ll admit I definitely lost count at one point!”

Steve Borthwick’s side would seal a 19-17 victory over Wales despite the red card and the three other yellow cards for England players.

Wales face South Africa in Cardiff in their final Rugby World Cup warm-up match before their Pool C opener against Fiji on September 10.

READ: England v Wales: Five takeaways as Steve Borthwick’s side steal win despite backline and injury woes