It was not a spear tackle but it was dangerous and merited a penalty and a yellow card. Instead the collective wisdom of Alain Rolland and his assistants Wayne Barnes and Johnathan Kaplan - three of the most officious, pedantic men on the world refereeing scene decided it warranted instant dismissal.
The Welsh and neutral spectators reacted in disbelief - most had assumed it was a yellow card, until the replay confirmed the decision.
From then on the crowd - and the game - fell flat as everybody realised that World Cup semifinals cannot usually be won with 14 men. Especially when the missing player is your captain and pivotal forward.
Suddenly French first five Morgan Parra looked like a world beater; without the attentions of an openside flanker twice he strode through gaping holes one off the ruck but France couldn't capitalise on the breaks.
Wales didn't help themselves. James Hook continued his poor tournament by missing two relatively straightforward shots at goal, crucial points in a tight first half. His tactical kicking was also poor and it was no surprise when Warren Gatland dragged him early in the second half.
Stephen Jones inexplicably attempted a drop goal with his left foot and the Welsh lacked composure inside the last 15 minutes when they had decent attacking spells near the French 22.
Despite their numerical advantage France offered little apart from forward grind and midfield bombs, which were often misplaced, and spent much of the first spell in their own half.
They reverted back to the team we saw in the pool stages that struggled to subdue Japan and Canada and were flattened by Tonga and New Zealand.
Despite playing with a numerical advantage for more than an hour they struggled to carve one decent clear cut tryscoring opportunity.
The inescapable conclusion is that the French will struggle to make next week's final a contest no matter who they play and their memorable win over England said more about English failings than French finesse.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
