The Twitterati were out in force within minutes of Sam Warburton, the Welsh captain, being sent off for a "dangerous tip tackle" by referee Alain Rolland during Saturday's World Cup semi-final defeat to France in Auckland.
The Scottish scrum-half, Rory Lawson, responded to the decision: “Yellow card, no-one says another word. Sam wrongly sent off.” And his compatriot, the former Test lock, Doddie Weir, was even more scathing in his judgment. “Really gutted for Wales – it was never a red card.”
Well, from a neutral perspective, those who denounced Rolland for not only spoiling the contest, but acting largely on impulse without consulting his touch judge, should study the rule book before lashing out in condemnation. Yes, it was easy to feel sympathy with Warburton, whose previous behaviour at the tournament had been exemplary and who could hardly be accused of launching a premeditated assault on the French winger, Vincent Clerc. Yet, once the dust had settled, the International Rugby Board was perfectly clear in justifying its reaction, even while the likes of Francois Pienaar and Lawrence Dallaglio were foaming at the mouth.
“The IRB memorandum, issued on 8 June, 2009, stated that such tackles must be dealt with severely by referees and those involved in the off-field disciplinary process.” Thus, although the judicial officer, Christopher Quinlan (of England), found “that there were no aggravating features”, Warburton was sunk from the instant he collided into his rival and hoisted him off the ground. Even Robert Jones, the former Welsh skipper, conceded that point, despite being among the vast congregation of heart-broken union aficionados in the valleys yesterday. “As disappointing as it might be for me as a Welshman, the Sam Warburton decision was the right one,” he said. “Initially, it looked fine, like a well-made tackle. But in slow motion, you can see that he has lifted Clerc and dropped him.
“If you go by the letter of the law, that is a red card, but I think the IRB have to look at that law, and give the referee the opportunity to base his decision on the way the game is going and the players involved. It is all about the feel of the game and there has been a lot of inconsistency with the officiating at the World Cup.”
Warburton has been banned for three weeks, and will now miss his country’s third-place tussle with Australia. The 22-year-old back-row forward rightly enjoys a lofty reputation as one of the game’s straight arrows. There is also a massive difference between his transgression and the petulant manner in which Wayne Rooney kicked out at an opponent during the recent European Championship qualifying match in Montenegro. But, Warburton’s offence was clearly dangerous and the IRB, which is striving to preach to the unconverted and spread rugby’s appeal beyond its traditional heartlands, recognises it has to tread a fine dividing line between maintaining the sport’s ferocity and convincing concerned parents that they should have no qualms about their children taking up the sport.
In this respect, one doesn’t envy them or people such as Rolland, not on the basis of the blizzard of opprobrium which was heaped on the Irishman’s shoulders. If he had missed the tackle, or adjudged that it only warranted a spell in the sin bin, one suspects that Wales, who had been a revelation in the competition, would have defeated Les Bleus, and booked their passage into next Sunday’s final against New Zealand. So too, Warburton, whose leadership of a youthful squad has been immense, would have been punished – and would probably have run the risk of being cited – without him being left to feel he had let down his whole nation. From that perspective, and particularly considering that Clerc was unhurt in the collision, Rolland’s handling of the incident was insensitive. Despite the subsequent heroics of the 14 proud Welshmen, who not only extinguished their opponents’ attacking threat but almost achieved a remarkable victory, there is little doubt the match turned on one sliver of overzealous physicality.
Perhaps, though, it also demonstrated how swiftly fortunes can change in sport. Prior to Saturday, the Welsh party had been so free of controversy, on or off the pitch, that Warren Gatland, their coach, was forced to deny his charges were living like monks. And Warburton was generally portrayed as the linchpin of this happy group; a blithe lad with a refreshingly good-natured approach to his craft and a fitting ambassador for his nation.
Briefly, at least, his halo has slipped a fraction. But it is rugby which may have greater dilemmas in the future as the tackles get bigger and the injury tolls mount.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article