Cymru am byth! - a travesty.

I witnessed this morning one of the worst sending off decisions ever made by a first class referee - in a World Cup semi-Final to boot. As a consequence, I think I also witnessed one of the best performances of my life by my national heroes too.

The only thing missing was for one of the three kicks they missed to have been a foot right or a foot higher and they would also have registered the win against all the odds as it turned out. The French have had guardian angels looking after them all tournament. Frankly (no pun intended), they were the worst team left in the last sixteen and somehow they have contrived to reach the final, where I am sure they will be slaughtered...
...unless their guardian angel appoints an Australian (or Kiwi) referee, depending upon who loses the other semi-final tomorrow, who then sends the winning opponents key player off inside the first quarter, just for fun! (haha, he laughs feigning fun....who was it referee Alain Rolland played for again?....oh yes, Wales' beaten quarter final opponents!)

The shame of it is that the Welsh were probably the only team that would have given the Kiwis a run for their money and the world would have probably witnessed one of the best Finals ever staged. As it turns out, whomever joins France in the final, it will be a one-sided affair.

(For those of you unsure, or on the fence, or without knowledge, in Rugby a dangerous tackle is a yellow card offence. A dangerous tackle with malicious intent to harm is a red card offence. In this instance, it was clearly a dangerous tackle by the rules as the feet and legs were above the torso. Clear cut.
Even clearer however was that Sam Warburton (in the running for 'Best Player of the Tournament') released Vincent Clerc way before he hit the ground, realising with his significant extra strength and weight, their contact had forced Clerc into this position. He used no further force, weight, nor intent to 'pile drive' the player into the ground (with the intent pf harming him). You can clearly see in pictures, still and TV(hence my blip tonight), Warburton releasing Clerc.
Unlike football, Rugby referees have TV Referees at their disposal for big decisions, but Rolland was intent on making this one on his own, and he will surely fall by it.
There were 2 other similar tackles in the same game that received no punishment and a whole host of similar tackles in the tournament that didn't even stop play! It is, after all, a contact sport! Rolland's interpretation of a 'dangerous tackle with intent to harm' will have all rugby matches finishing with less than 5 men per team!)

Biased, I may be, but for Rugby fans around the world, we have been robbed of one of the potentially most exciting RWC Finals ever!