Unfortunately, the game is dangerous, and serious injuries sometimes happen even in innocuous situations
As such, I don't see the panel taking that into account too much.
In the context of the game, Farrell wasn't playing particularly well, his team were struggling but still more than capable of winning... They just needed a little something extra.
With that in mind, Farrell deviced it was time for a big hit to change the flow of the game.
We'd just brought a young fly half on, Farrell undoubtedly wanted to put a mark on him
I genuinely believe he went in with full intention of leaving one on him and ensuring that he knew who and what he was up against.
I also genuinely believe that he didn't intend to injure him - and that's where the remorse / apology comes in.
Ultimately, it's incredibly reckless and exactly the sort of thing that the RFU, and world rugby, are trying to get out of the game.
However, without precedence, I don't expect to see anything out of the ordinary from the panel.
I suspect worst case will be 6 games reduced to 3