Rolland got the call spot on

WAS Alain Rolland passed over for his second successive World Cup final because he sent off Welsh captain Sam Warburton in Saturday’s semi-final?

Or is International Rugby Board referees manager Paddy O’Brien being entirely truthful when claiming that the preference for Craig Joubert was based “strictly on merit”?

There will be many diverse views on these two questions. Those on Rolland’s side will argue that he has been punished for a courageous call that most other refs would have chickened out of making. They will add that his selection as assistant referee is both a sop to the Dubliner and a means of demonstrating he was close to the top job.

Those who see it from the opposite point of view will insist Rolland got it completely wrong, that he over-reacted, that a yellow card would have fitted the bill perfectly and he spoiled what promised to be an epic World Cup semi-final.

From what I have seen and heard, it seems like the consensus is coming down 50-50 as to whether he got it right or not. Generally, the post mortem has been based on sound reason and common sense but there have been one or two exceptions — like the former England out-half Stuart Barnes who lost his cool when he described it as an “arrogant misuse of power”, that Rolland “made a calamitous error” and described the official as “the half-French referee whose preposterous red card for Sam Warburton was the worst piece of refereeing in this year’s competition … he was France’s man of the match.”

To the great credit of Warren Gatland and the Welsh camp, there was little or no sign of that kind of hysteria despite their entirely understandable sense of deep disappointment at losing such an important match to inferior opposition.

Indeed, a nation capable of displaying a disagreeable level of arrogance during their glory years in the 1970s has soared in my estimation because of their sporting reaction to a defeat inflicted on them in the harshest way possible.

Top-class rugby has become so physical and uncompromising that player protection and safety has to be paramount for referees and that is why I come down on Rolland’s side. If you were a parent watching the incident and saw Vincent Clerc dumped on his head, neck and shoulder, you might well wince and decide you didn’t want your son playing a sport that condoned such an incident.

Joubert’s appointment shouldn’t be necessarily interpreted as a criticism of Rolland’s decision to send off Warburton. After all, the South African is a vastly experienced referee who has proved himself well capable over the years of handling the biggest matches. He is well up to the task. O’Brien professed himself delighted at the way Rolland and Joubert refereed the two semi-finals and insisted: “We will maintain a zero tolerance attitude towards infringements and foul play across the key areas of the game.”

Nevertheless, in the circumstances, it was always going to be a contentious call by the IRB.

Their need to find consistency in interpretation is, however, a different issue. For instance, Warren Gatland’s question “does that mean that every time there’s a tackle where you lift someone off the ground, it’s a red card” deserves a frank and honest response.

Whipping a player’s legs from under him as he jumps in the line-out is clearly a very dangerous thing to do. It happens fairly frequently and the sanction invariably is a yellow card. Those who indulge in such an act will think twice in the future and that is surely a good thing.

True, there are other areas of the game where the penalty doesn’t seem to fit the crime and if Alain Rolland’s decision helps to open the eyes of Paddy O’Brien and his IRB colleagues, that will be another positive.

Meanwhile, the destination of the William Webb trophy was effectively decided as early as the first five minutes in Eden Park on Sunday. By that time, the hapless Australian out-half Quade Cooper had put the game’s first kick out on the full and the All Blacks were five points ahead through a smashing try by Ma’a Nonu.

It was a start from which the Wallabies were never going to recover. And with France set to be easy meat for New Zealand in next Sunday’s final, the Kiwis could have been forgiven for some premature celebrations. There can hardly be a man or woman anywhere on the planet who thinks France have the remotest chance of upsetting the odds. Any other view would be widely regarded as ridiculous given the vast contrast in the teams respective semi-final performances.