Irish referee with French connections sends off Wales captain in Rugby Word Cup
Posted on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 08:04 AM
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Irish referee Alain Rolland is at the heart of a major controversy after sending off Welsh captain Sam Warburton the first half of the Rugby World Cup semi final between France and Wales.
France went on to win the game by 9 -8 but the absence of Warburton was the critical turning point.
Wales and most pundits were furious afterwards at the sending off which was considered very harsh.
Rolland is of French ancestry as his father hails from there and he speaks fluent French.
He was capped three times for Ireland and is a mortgage broker and banker.
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Towngate | Oct 16, 2011, 08:33 AM EDT
An early warning by the Ref that this sort of violence - no matter how cunningly executed it was by warburton - was not going to be tolerated, gave a fabulous edge to the match as the welsh struggled to cope without the strategy and the man who led by very poor example. Best of all were UK commentators who spent the entire game bemoaning the loss of the offender and the quality of the World Class referee.
Continuous 'soft-edited' replays of the offence made it even more enjoyable! Violence = Red Card = Spot on! - remember there were only 'technical' infringements after that! Well done, Ref!
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Desmondo | Oct 15, 2011, 10:59 PM EDT
Alain Rolland is frequently chosen for French games because he speaks French fluently and can communicate with the French players effectively and therefore not placing them at the disadvantage they often face with English only speaking refs. His call was suspect however. The tackler lifted the French player but did not drive him to the ground. It was a yellow card offense and not a red card offense. despite being down a player for most of the match they were the better side on the day and will rue the missed opportunities. Unless the French get a massive injection of creativity I anticipate it will be a very one sided final.
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cynicus | Oct 15, 2011, 08:03 PM EDT
Hi, I'm not a rugby aficionado, but love to watch it. Any right-thinking person would have to agree that (1) this was a dangerous tackle and (2) it merited a yellow card at least and (3) the referee has responsibilities and a duty of care to the players that far outweighs petty national myopia and (4) Wales had the winning if this game- more than once - and failed to take their scores.
Imagine the whinging if the referee had not sent the player off and a serious injury had been sustained by the tackled player!
There is no need in rugby to tackle an opponent in a manner likely to seriously injure him. It's only a game - not a fight to the death.
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CharlesJhaughey | Oct 15, 2011, 07:05 PM EDT
Dearest George . Got quite upset there didn't you .Yes , it was stupid to pick a Irish/French ref , but we didn't pick him . Yes there was the hand of Henry , along with the hand of Maradonna .( you're not from England are you ? )All european nations moan George , its a fact of life .But calling us ugly , a bit of the top my dear man .Impress us with your good looks gorgeous George and send in a photo , to compare you to our Irish hollywood stars , pop stars , etc .Ps we can actually spell a bit better than you too !
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cillowen | Oct 15, 2011, 04:09 PM EDT
the most ridiculous choice for one such as this
ref to be chosen. says a lot for rugby mavens. stupid.
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rosks304 | Oct 15, 2011, 10:31 AM EDT
After the debacle that south Africa against Australia had with the referee Bryce whoever am trying to forget his name,anything is possible.Having said that a final with Wales would have been far more interesting than the French.
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GeorgeDillon | Oct 15, 2011, 07:32 AM EDT
The irish are quick to whine about being treated unfairly by referees. But they're perfectly capable of dishing out garbage too. Look at the antics of this French Irish guy--what idiots chose a half Frenchman to referee a World Cup game involving France? And then there was the Spanish idiot a few days back who imagined the Armenian goalkeeper handled the ball, but conveniently missed the Irishman handling it a second before. Contrast wthat with all the Irish whining, even in the Irish Parliament, after they were on the wrong end of a decision a copuple years back. The Irish--they're the biggest ugliest crybabies in the world.
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