Cockerels Crow As Dragons Slain In Red Card Controversy

A straight red card in the 18th minute was the pivotal moment in the opening semi final as Irish/french referee Alain Rolland sent off Wales skipper Sam Warburton after what he thought was an O’Driscollesque spear tackle. For many the decision was harsh given it came so early in the match before the first quarter had elapsed with TV pundits divided as to whether the card should have been red or yellow. Under the letter of the law the referee made the correct decision with the rule stating; “Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play”. The Welsh started this match with the same turbo charged tempo which had undone their celtic neighbours Ireland seven days ago and looked set to steamroll a French side who had already lost two matches in this tournament to hosts New Zealand, whom they put under great pressure before succumbing and to the South sea Islanders of Tonga who produced the result of the tournament if you exclude Ireland’s defeat of Australia which rejigged the draw to mean the Northern & Southern hemispheres were involved in a mini tournament to decide one from each half of the World would make it to the final.
The Welsh took an early lead through James Hook’s penalty but he had left his shooting boots at home and missed three more attempts.The loss of the man mountain Adam Jones early on also diminished Welsh chances. Morgan Parra scored all the French points from penalties but Mike Phillips got the Dragons back into it with a try but Stephen Jones’ botched conversion attempt and his reluctance late on to try a drop at goal as Wales went through 26 phases as the clock ticked down ultimately saw a very lucky and extremely poor French side astonishingly make the World Cup Final.

Bob "The Voice" McKenzie Twitter: @BobTheVoice About: