Alain Rolland isn’t exactly the darling of the Welsh nation at the moment, but IRB referees chief Paddy O’Brien has said that he was “absolutely correct” to send off Sam Warburton on Saturday.
Rolland’s decision to give Warburton an early bath was the topic of much debate early on Saturday morning, with reaction ranging from outright hostility – “I don’t like to swear, but that decision was BOLLOCKS. ITV should interview him and ask him why. Explain it to the world. Cause we wanna know” (Gareth Thomas) to sympathy – “Criticism of Rolland is absolute horse manure” (George Hook).
Rolland, who had previously been touted as the favourite to take charge of the final next weekend, will instead operate as one of the touch judges, with South African Craig Joubert being chosen as the man in the middle.
The fact that Warburton was handed a three-match ban seemed to be a vindication of Rolland’s decision to issue the red card and IRB referees’ chief Paddy O’Brien was in no doubt that the Irishman made the correct decision.
“Alain Rolland’s decision to issue a red card was absolutely correct in law and in keeping with the clear instructions that match officials have received in recent years regarding dangerous tackling,” said O’Brien.
“Alain is a highly experienced referee and had a clear view of the incident, which enabled him to make an accurate and instant decision. Player welfare is paramount and unions, teams and match officials are all aware of the responsibility to eradicate dangerous play.
“This message was reiterated as recently as the week before Rugby World Cup 2011 kicked off, when we hosted briefings at a workshop with match officials and coaches.”
In fairness to the Welsh players, their reaction to the decision in the aftermath of the game was, for the most part, very dignified. The response of the Western Mail and the supporters who hacked Rolland’s Wikipedia page was less so.
Can’t we all just let it go?
Want more Alain Rolland stuff? Here’s five things you might not know, and the Twitter verdict after Saturday’s big game.
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