Owen Farrell in the wars! England talisman left limping around the pitch after taking a ‘horrible’ blow in the first half… before getting an arm to the FACE
- Owen Farrell took multiple blows in the semi-final clash against New Zealand
- The centre was on the end of cheeky hit to the face from All Blacks Sam Whitlock
- Farrell took a knock to his right thigh after tackling Jack Goodhue in the first half
- Jonny Wilkinson said it looks like a ‘classic, horrible injury’ to the England centre
- REPORT: Eddie Jones’ men put in sensational performance to stun New Zealand
England’s Owen Farrell found himself in the wars during England’s impressive Rugby World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand on Saturday.
Farrell took multiple blows in the sensational win over the All Blacks, including a sly hit to the face by second-row Samuel Whitlock.
Whitlock took a cheeky hit at the already-injured Farrell after a break in play, but the centre continued to soldier on through the match.
Owen Farrell was caught off-guard by New Zealand second-row Sam Whitlock on Saturday
Farrell took a blow to the head after a break as the All Blacks forward tried to retrieve the ball
The centre stayed on the ground as he tried to nurse his head after Whitlock’s cheeky hit
Farrell was also visibly limping around the pitch midway through the first half after picking up a knock to his right thigh.
The injury was picked up after the England centre’s thigh collided with the knee of New Zealand centre, Jack Goodhue.
England rugby legend Jonny Wilkinson broke down the incident at half-time and told ITV Sport: ‘As he goes in to tackle Goodhue you see his knee really collide with Farrell’s thigh.
Farrell was in visible pain after an extremely physical first half against New Zealand
The England centre went in for a tackle around half-way and appeared to get a knock on his leg
On impact, it seemed Farrell’s right thigh collided with the right leg of Jack Goodhue
The England centre soldiered on through the first half despite picking up a knock to right thigh
Farrell walked from the collision visibly limping and struggled throughout the rest of the half
‘That’s a classic, horrible injury that just sits there. The closer to the knee it is the worse it is. There’s no way he’s going to carry on kicking because he won’t be able to bend his leg as much.
‘Contracting that muscle is going to be horrible for him. Hopefully if he can stay on the move, keep it warm and use the physios to get it as free as possible then he’ll be good to go.’
Kicking duties were passed on to George Ford and Elliot Daly but Farrell played the full 80 minutes as England stunned New Zealand 19-7 to reach the Rugby World Cup final.