No hard feelings as Warburton admits Rolland red card decision was right
Rolland controversially gave the Wales captain his marching orders for a spear tackle on diminutive French wing Vincent Clerc, just 18 minutes into the Dragons’ 9-8 World Cup semi-final defeat.
Matthew Rees, the man Warburton succeeded as national captain, reckons there will be no ‘Welcome in the Hillside’ for Rolland. “The red card was harsh and I’d imagine Rolland will get quite a bit of stick wherever he goes and especially the next time he comes to Wales,” said Rees.
However, Warburton admitted Rolland made the right call.
“I have seen it played back, the tackle is a lot uglier than I thought it was at the time. When I looked at it on the replays it looked worse than I thought it was,” he said.
“I didn’t intend to do anything like that and I had only had a yellow card in my career up until that point so it was a shock to get a red, but there was nothing I could do.”
And he insisted, despite the duo avoiding an uncomfortable reunion in both the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup and the Six Nations, there is no bad blood.
Warburton said: “The next time Alain Rolland referees a game that I’m involved in it cannot be an issue. At the end of the day he was just doing his job. “It was not a personal thing from Alain against me. I’ve seen him give red cards for spear tackles before so I should have known.”
Warburton pleaded guilty at an International Rugby Board disciplinary hearing and was subsequently slapped with a three-week suspension.
He is free to play from Monday and is in line to return to action in Cardiff Blues’ Heineken Cup opener against Racing Metro in a week’s time.
The 23-year-old admits he was not fully aware of the laws surrounding the tackle but insists he has learnt his lesson. “If you pick someone up and drop them then it’s a sending off,” he said.
“But if I’m being honest I had never thought about the spear tackle rules — I didn’t really know what they were because I never thought I’d be in that situation.
“Had I known [the rules] then obviously I wouldn’t have let him [Clerc] go. I didn’t let go because, in my mind, if I had held on it would have looked even uglier and he could have landed on his head.
“But when I looked at the rule book and went to the hearing I realised it was a red card offence and I couldn’t complain.”
And Warburton hopes he can go on to create more positive memories for Cardiff and Wales fans to remember him by.
He said: “I hope it’s not what I am remembered for, but if in a year’s time or 10 years’ time people are still talking about it then maybe it will be.
“It’s one of those moments that has happened and hopefully I can build some better memories, whether it is for Cardiff or Wales.
“People will remember it, it was a massive event in rugby, but it’s just sport.
“Those things happen. But David Beckham is remembered for a lot of other things other than his red card against Argentina.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
