Rolland thanks Warburton for red card backing

Top referee Alain Rolland has thanked Wales captain Sam Warburton for his public backing in the wake of the World Cup sending off that derailed the Welsh challenge in New Zealand last October.

The Irish official has broken his silence on the controversy in an interview with Donal Lenihan in tomorrow’s Six Nations special in the Irish Examiner.

Rolland became Public Enemy No One in Wales after the decision to red card Warburton for a spear tackle in the World Cup semi-final against France. But the Welsh captain took the heat out of the situation and the pressure off Rolland by admitting it was the right decision.

Rolland tells Lenihan: “His comments were very good for the game. I’m not saying it was good for Alain Rolland because I dealt with the matter and if I had to do it again I would. But what he has done is make a statement for the game of rugby and how it should be played, that will hopefully make it safer. Kids looking on and playing the game will realise this (spear tackling) is not something we can do. For that very reason, I think what he said was good for the game of rugby.”

Rolland admits there was “an awful lot of emotion” in the immediate aftermath of the red card decision. But, he added, referees have to remain detached from debates about ‘spoiling’ a game.

“We have to strip all of that out and deal with the facts. That’s all a referee can deal with. Irrespective of what the match is, a minor game in Blackrock or Cork Con or the semi-final of a World Cup, you still have to deal with the facts of what’s actually happened.”