England fans fume at Owen Farrell time-out while losing in Rugby World Cup first

Owen Farrell made history in two very opposite ways as England creaked to the narrowest of wins over Samoa on Saturday.

That was after Steve Borthwick's skipper became the first player in Rugby World Cup history to be prevented from kicking after exceeding the shot clock. And on the same day that the Saracens star broke Jonny Wilkinson's points record to become his country's top scorer of all time.

England looked lethargic at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy and went in at the interval trailing 14-8 following a shock brace of tries from Nigel Ah Wong. Progress was slow in the second period, but captain Farrell had a chance to bring the deficit down to just three points with a penalty in the 65th minute.

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But that opportunity went begging after Farrell failed to strike the ball within the allotted 60 seconds, resulting in a Samoan scrum close to their own try line. Former England winger Ugo Monye was serving on ITV commentary and called the gaffe 'unbelievable', while head coach Borthwick will have struggled to wrap his head around the incident himself.

In a match where few among the Red Rose camp stood out as impressive, some might have expected the returning skipper to lead by example. But the landmark miss instead went down as another case of even England's most experienced taking their eyes off the ball – or maybe looking at it for too long.

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Cameras cut to images of England fans with heads in hands and reacting with shock after witnessed the unprecedented. And Farrell himself was clearly frustrated with himself, as if the losing scoreline wasn't enough.

World Rugby brought in new laws at the start of 2023 in an effort to speed up rugby union, and more strict enforcement of the shot clock was one of them. Numerous players have come close to exceeding the one-minute timer in France so far this summer, but no-one had been pulled up before Saturday.

England's rugby team will be aiming for glory in France, with Umbro supplying their kits for the tournament. It is the first time that the supplier have been handed the chance to produce the kits, with a traditional white home shirt emblazoned with the iconic red rose.

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The oversight comes after Farrell has faced calls to be ousted from England's XV after the team enjoyed so much improvement with George Ford starting at fly-half during his suspension earlier this summer. Ford started at 10 on Saturday with Farrell at inside centre, but the combination was hardly inspiring.

In the end, a late Danny Care score in addition to Ollie Chessum's early opener was enough to complete a perfect run through Pool D. Or at least perfect in regards to their four wins from four, with plenty of room for improvement for England heading into the knockout stages.

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