OWEN FARRELL gifted South Africa their opening points in the Rugby World Cup semi-final – thanks to his potty mouth and a little-known rule.
The England captain had fired his team into a 6-0 lead against the Springboks early on in Paris.
But he handed the defending champions a way back into the game for his backchat to the referee.
England had conceded a penalty on the halfway line.
But as the decision went against the Red Rose, Farrell was quickly in Ben O’Keeffe’s ear to moan about the call.
It came just a couple of minutes after Farrell and opposite number Siya Kolisi were given a ticking off for some handbags – prompting the England man to argue with the official.
So when the penalty on halfway went against England and Farrell expressed his displeasure, ref O’Keeffe punished the fly-half by moving the penalty ten metres closer to the posts.
The rule was first introduced as a trial in 2018 to try and cut down on backchat from players – having been used in some football matches.
However, the law stuck in rugby and referees have the discretion to march offending teams back ten metres or even show a yellow card.
South Africa made the most of the obscure rule as Manie Libbok took on the kick and struck the penalty between the posts.
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Jonny Wilkinson – who was the fly-half when England won the World Cup in 2003 – had his say on the incident at half-time.
He told ITV: “Those penalties are such a doorway into huge territory and momentum sings.
“Without those, this half would have been very different.”
Fans also took to social media to pile in on Farrell’s costly petulance.
One said: “Owen Farrell needs to shut his trap. Such a deeply unlikeable player.”
Another wrote: “Why does Owen Farrell persist in arguing with the referee?”
A third added: “Owen Farrell losing his head, needs to calm down massively.”
And a final user commented: “Could someone design Owen Farrell a gum shield that stops him talking?”
The incident is not the first time during the Rugby World Cup that Farrell has been hit by unusual laws.
Against Samoa, the Saracens ace became the first player at the tournament to be timed out by the shot clock on a penalty.
Farrell, though, let his boot do the talking moments later to restore England’s six-point lead against South Africa.
And then Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber made the shock call to sub off struggling Libbok after just 30 minutes.
