Owen Farrell lashes out at ‘pathetic’ England prop after ‘Lionel Messi dive’

Owen-Farrell-angered-after-Bevan-Rodds-dive-during-Saracens-v-Sale-Sharks-clash-in-the-Premiership

Ex-England captain Owen Farrell was not impressed by the actions of his former Test team-mate Bevan Rodd, who appeared to make the most of a slight shove.

The two players were going head-to-head during the crucial Premiership clash between Saracens and Sale Sharks on Saturday.

Sale had just earned a penalty at a scrum when opposition tighthead Christian Judge took exception to Rodd and lightly pushed the 23-year-old.

Referee’s actions

He duly hit the ground in dramatic fashion, perhaps hoping that the referee would hand down even more punishment to the Sarries forward, but Luke Pearce was having none of it.

Pearce immediately interjected, saying “up you get” to Rodd, before Farrell came up and pointed at the England prop.

The match officials attempted to stop the Red Rose centurion from getting involved, stating: “I’m dealing with that, thanks”, but the playmaker still got a few words in before he moved away from the incident.

“That’s pathetic Bevan, pathetic, you diving git!” Farrell said.

Pearce did not reverse the penalty but he did calmly deal with the situation by mentioning to Rodd that he did not need to stoop to that level.

“Bevan, listen mate, I know he nudged you, but I’m not sure it needed a Lionel Messi dive, okay?”

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Former England fly-half Andy Goode agreed with Farrell and was not impressed by the prop’s antics.

“Bevan Rodd absolutely embarrassing himself with a dive from a slight push there, seriously pathetic,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “There’s too much gamesmanship in the game at the minute trying to get players carded.

“Hoping Bevan Rodd is getting rinsed by his team mates for the Lionel Messi dive!”

Farrell’s frustration

Saracens had earlier seen a penalty reversed after Ivan van Zyl got frustrated by Ben Curry’s gamesmanship.

The South African scrum-half appeared to be held down by the Red Rose flanker and responded by lifting the leg of Curry, who then landed on his shoulder, with his head subsequently hitting the floor.

Farrell also referenced an incident against Bath when discussing matters with Pearce, who took charge of their game on April 26.

“If they keep diving, what can we possibly do? You know you were saying before it was a bad look for the game against Bath…” the Saracens captain said.

The referee then chimed in and sympathised with Farrell over the Rodd ‘dive’, but stated that Van Zyl had to be penalised for his indiscretion.

“I see your point in the second one, the first one was foul play,” he said.