How the hell does the manager lift the Welsh Rugby players after yesterday? There talismanic captain Sam Warburton was wrongly sent off by an official, who with his French connections should never have been officiating at this game anyway, look at some of the reaction from some people who could hardly be called Wales greatest fans: "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 Warburton 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) OK I know this is a football forum, but the same thing applies, you have a close knit group of players, and a popular charismatic captain, he gets sent off in very dubious circumstances,and you are effectively "robbed" of a place in a WC final.........how gutted are you going to be? Then after being away from home for almost 6 weeks, you have to hang around for another week to play in a comparitively meaningless 3rd place match..........I bet those players just want to get on the next plane home. How do you play it as a manager, do you adopt a "it's us against the world" siege mentality, "come on lads lets do it for Sam". Do you dwell on the fact you were effectively "cheated" out of your chance of glory and use this to motivate the squad, or do you just try and put it behind you and move on.........and play each game as it comes? A tough call and this is where managers earn their money. Third place games, who REALLY remebers who came third, are they just one game to far and an unnecessarily cruel demand on the players, I personally would say scrap them, because if I was one of those players I'm not sure I could get myself up for it or that I'd want to
"Third place games, who REALLY remebers who came third, are they just one game to far and an unnecessarily cruel demand on the players, I personally would say scrap them" I think that Wales will want to leave NZ with a victory in their last game and I think Australia will not be looking forward to another game.
When I was a kid and fell off my bike I was always encouraged to get straight back on it and go again.I think it's the best advice I ever had even though my knees look like a butchers block.
I don't know enough about tackle interpretation in RU to say whats worth a red or yellow so I can't comment on whether or nor we were robbed. I might be in a minority here but I don't think that red card cost us the game. Yes the game plan had to change and although we only lost by one point, we missed a few kicks so still could have won. I think these boys will want to go out with a bang against Australia and show what they can do against a 'top' side
i was shocked as anyone else to see the red. i could see where the ref was coming from but it was a harsh decision, especially in a game of such a magnitude as a semi final. i dont think we'll ever get a better opportunity to get to a final. france were as poor a team we could hope to play at this stage, and we only got 1 kick from 7 (2 drop goals) which is gutting in itself. you do have to ask the logic of appointing a ref who's dad is french though, i'd like to see the criteria in which refs are selected for certain games anyway, lets not have a witch hunt like england did with rooney and beckham. warburton has captained the wales rugby team to a semi final when he's only 22 (?) and will lead the team for years to come. what a future he, north, s. williams, falatau etc have in the game. they did us all proud
Had a discussion with a number of people about this and it appears there were 2 red card offences committed which gave the referee no option but to send Warburton off. The first was the spear tackle and the second letting him go. Decisions like this change the game for better or worse, who's to say if he didn't get sent off that France would not have stepped up a couple of gears? Unlikely but it could've happened. A great game and the lads done themselves and the nation proud.
The thing that angered me was also highlighted by commentators / pundits / Gatland. No consultation with touch judges or TMO and the fact that similar and worse tackles in other games were punished with yellow in 3 cases I know of and nothing in another. When you think of Burgers gouging in the Lions tour which was given a yellow it makes a mockery of things. A reckless challange by Warburton but not mallicious. The Rugby Boards have obviously sided with the ref as they've banned Warburton for 3 weeks. France will get mullered by the Blacks who must have sighed with relief with France getting through. I think Wales will be up for the game on Friday just to show what will be missed by them not being in the final. Could be a repeat of the first World Cup for teams placed 1-4.
the fact is, despite being down to 14 men early on we still should have won, france didnt score a try. are you suggesting that france would have upped their performance if we had 15, surely that would have helped us even more? i have to disagree with you there m8.
Perhaps they should make sure all the players know the rules. The same as so called experts. Then you wouldnt have posts like this and a bloke being called a cheat etc. Under the laws Warburton was sent off correctly. Hes accepted a ban. Wales with 15 men would have won. If it wasnt for poor kicking they would still have won. Wales are out - unluckily. Blame the laws of the game and then poor kicking. Not a ref carrying out the laws. Cardiff in the play off final had a equaliser ruled out for offside. Just a mistake but we got on with it and didnt kick up like this. This ref is getting slaughtered for carrying out the laws of rugby correctly. Time to move on.
[QUOTE]The first was the spear tackle and the second letting him go[/QUOTE] Can't happen M8, a spear tackle is where a player picks up another player and deliberately drives them head first into the ground. How could he have held onto Clerc and purposely driven him into the ground AND dropped him? It had to be one or the other, couldn't have been both, referees have been instructed to outlaw the spear tackle, and a straight red no argument, whilst the tackling player has a duty of care to return any player he lifts off the ground safely, what is he supposed to do if the player wriggles out of his grip? Referee's are urged to use common sense and look at each incident individually, and this type of incident results in a yellow card 99 times out of a 100. This ref (who likes to be controversial to say the least) didn't refer to his touch judges and just went straight for the red card, even though it was obvious there was no malice in the tackle (even the Clerc and the French management admitted this) and Warburton had not had to be spoken to previously, this was a world cup semi FFS and the ref should have at least consulted his touch judge, but this ref loves being the centre of attention. The ref was a controversial appointment for this game anyway as he is half French Having made such a controversial appointment the authorities HAD to close ranks, and support the ref despite a directive going out to referees about judging each case on it's merit, (and much worse tackles happening in the RWC, without any censure) But "The referee in this case was technically correct, and applying the exact letter of the law was correct in sending the player off" damning with faint praise? So they have given Warburton, the lowest possible ban under their own rules............and Allain Rowland is no longer on the shortlist of referee's for the WC Final or the Third place playoffs............I wonder why that is? Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio added: "He has lifted him up, realised his feet have gone up, and then let him go. "This ref refereed the last World Cup final, he is supposed to be one of the best in the world. But he has made a terrible decision. What is unbelievable is that in such an important, high profile match the referee didn't take advantage of the technology available to him" WE WOZ ROBBED
Swamp/Proph, I agree with you guys and I am trying to see the refs version. Not agreeing with the ref at all, more playing devils advocate. I won't repeat what's already been said about consulting the touch judges or interpretation of the rules be different refs on any given day. What galls me is the strange decision to have an official take charge of the match where one team knocked out your home nation, so the Wales v France had an Irish/French ref and the All blacks v Aus had a South African ref. The red card aside the refereeing wasn't that bad, not brilliant but not bad. However, I feel the refs should have been switched. Swamp, no worries disagreeing with me, it's a discussion board but I only threw out tha France may well have turned it on. Problem with what ifs and maybes is you'll never know Of the game I feel for the lads, a brilliant display from all14 on the pitch and the coaching staff to keep them going in the second half. If only the conversion had been converted, if only the Halfpenny penalty had the legs, why didn't they attempt a drop goal sooner etc, etc.... This is why I love sport, the edge of the seat moments in the big games. Well done all the team in NZ and come back with 3rd place, you can do it.
Agree. The Western Mail and Radio Wales have forgotten that there are more important things to report on. It was a game of rugby. Wales lost. The rules are to be abided by. Not all people in Wales care about it. Get over it. There is another compettion in 4 years. Lets move on as BfB says to tonight's game. City do a lot of draws. Peterborough either win or lose. City are incapable of keeping a clean sheet. Peterborough score a lot of goals. City have a poor attack, and Peterborough (dare I say it) are better attacking than defending so it's a hard one to call. Adding in all those factors, I suggest a low scoring draw.
