•”Rolland u’ve had a shocker…. Not the first time either!!! We’re not here to watch u…. (England wing Mark Cueto)
•”Should have been a yellow but never a red, poor Sam he’s been the heart and soul of Wales! (England full-back Ben Foden)
•” Yellow card, no one says another word. Sam Warbuton wrongly sent off. ” (Scotland scrum-half Rory Lawson)
•”Really gutted for Wales – never a red card” (Ex-Scotland lock Doddie Weir)
•”Gutted for the Welsh lads been team of the tournament!” (England centre Mike Tindall)
Shit sympathy from HRH and Ben Foden, your right it is time to move on.
OK last word on this from me (I hope)
So what happens if breadman was only given a yellow, which was then upgraded to a red and a ban in the citing commission; and if Wales had won? Would France have lost to a team that should only have had 14 players on the field
The injustice is the lack of consistency by refs, similar tackles have gone unpunished or been yellowed with later bans, from the IRB directive the ref was most likely right although the wording of that is maddeningly inconsistant (what constitutes “a height”). Its certainly the softest straight red I’ve seen.
And finally what worries me is the Warburton tackle was a decent low down tackle, its these where you risk having the players momentum carry him up. It’ll mean players will have to aim higher around the chest and go for the big smash, is this why we see so many high tackles go unpunished or even lauded as great hits, with a smaller area to aim for more will slip high. Apart from the odd real screamer like Rush on Lawes, when was the last time someone got a straight red for a high tackle?
as said earlier this pretty much sums up my view
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/oct/15/france-wales-rugby-world-cup?newsfeed=true
I don’t blame Alain Rolland for Wales’s World Cup exit against FranceThe tip tackle has been prioritised by Rugby World Cup authorities but other referees have failed to act
