England skipper Owen Farrell makes adjustment to tackle technique

England skipper Owen Farrell stated that he has made an adjustment to his tackle technique following World Rugby's crackdown on dangerous play.

The 27-year-old escaped punishment on two occasions during the November series last year - one against Australia and other against South Africa - for reckless no arms tackle but with the World Cup around the corner, Farrell doesn't want to take any chance.

With World Rugby being more stringent on the tackle techniques to reduce the number of head injuries as seen during the recent World Under-20 Championship where 13 players were sin-binned and four red-carded, England defence coach John Mitchell said the players are wary of the challenge ahead.

"Owen's not overly focused on that area, but he has made some adjustments," said defence coach John Mitchell.

"John Carrington, our strength and conditioning coach, is also my support on defence and he's very good at working on tackle technique. They have made some adjustments based on that last autumn.

"There can be mitigating circumstances, but if your hands are in front of your shoulder you've got a better chance of making a proper wrap tackle.

"If your shoulder is ahead of your hands, then the law doesn't look after you very well."

England will kick-start their World Cup campaign with a clash against Tonga in Sapporo on Sunday following which they will also face United States of America, Argentina and France in the opening round.