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Cape Town - England flyhalf Owen Farrell admitted that he was nervous waiting for Australian referee Angus Gardner to make a call on his tackle on Springbok replacement centre Andre Esterhuizen during Saturday’s Test at Twickenham.
There was drama in the final moments of the match when the Australian referee consulted the television match official to see if Farrell had committed an illegal 'no-arms' tackle on Esterhuizen.
England were leading 12-11 but a penalty to the Springboks would have given them the opportunity to win the Test with a shot at goal.
However Gardner, despite World Rugby's current crackdown on dangerous play, decided against penalising Farrell's challenge, saying the England co-captain had made enough of an effort to wrap his arms in the collision.
"Of course," Farrell told BBC Sport when asked if he was nervous during the review.
"As soon as anyone goes to the big screen you are. It was a pretty big collision. He ran it hard, it was hard to get your arms up. I tried to and thankfully it went our way.
"I didn't feel lucky, my intent was to wrap my arms, my intent is always to wrap my arms. He had a 30m run up at me so it was tough, we both popped up off each other and it is difficult to keep that under control."
Farrell on Sunday also escaped disciplinary action when he was not cited for the incident, leaving him free to face the All Blacks this weekend.
