Chris Rattue on the Rugby World Cup: Ignore the spin, Red card ref right

Wales captain Sam Warburton receives a straight red card from Referee Alain Rolland of Ireland (L) for a dangerous tackle on Wing Vincent Clerc of France. Photo / Getty Images

Referee Alain Rolland got it right, sending off Sam Warburton, and certainly a lot more right than Warburton himself.

The bloke who stuffed up was the Welsh captain - what was he thinking, committing the sort of tackle that could leave an opponent with a broken neck, one the IRB had clearly and rightly set out to punish harshly before the tournament began?

Warburton's "tip" tackle was a disgrace, a shocker, one that even his own coach might condemn. Of course he won't - Warren Gatland claimed the red card "ruined" the semifinal, but did concede it was worthy of a yellow card. His assistant Shaun Edwards called the sending-off a travesty for the tournament.

You can already feel the tide building against the Irish whistler, just as it did against Bryce Lawrence as the Springboks moaned and groaned their way back home. Slowly but surely, contempt is working through the IRB list, referee by referee.

Warburton is the real villain, yet once again a referee is copping flak from many sides. Beaten teams know that if they stay on message, in classic spin doctor form, their own failings will quickly be obliterated. Obscene internet hate campaigns are all the rage.

As with the All Blacks in 2007, all coaches have to do is help light the fuse. In the All Blacks' case, they declined to comment, allowing the silence and what it implied to hang Wayne Barnes out to dry. Their bleating fans took over. Graham Henry kept his job, quietly detailing the Barnes error list for the benefit of a compliant NZRU. All those All Black errors, over many months, faded into obscurity.

The red card will forever dominate memories of Saturday night's semifinal, although we will see it in different ways. There is a phenomenon that can affect us all in these sorts of situations, known as observer bias. Science has analysed this, and one well quoted study involved polling the supporters after an American university football match. Surprise, surprise, the students from one college saw twice as many infractions by the opposing team. The mind plays tricks and coaches play them as well. As you can see by this column and other reports, the red card has overshadowed a black day for rugby, when the big occasion was too much for two ordinary (to put it nicely) teams.

Gatland disagrees with Rolland.

You may believe Gatland's analysis, but I certainly wouldn't bother. He is disappointed. He wants a good relationship with his captain. He can't go against the tide of Welsh feeling. He needs an excuse. As with the All Blacks and Springboks before him, Gatland has World Cup observer bias. I also disagree with the Welsh view that they deserve to be in the final. They were still awful in departments such as lineout, goal and drop kicking that were not influenced by having 14 men. Keeping your composure, Mr Warburton, is a vital part of big-time sport.

The occasion was not too much for others however. Justin Marshall, the most worldly and sensible voice in our commentary box, knew Warburton was in "big, big" red card trouble immediately the tackle was made. No one in the box argued, with Marshall or Rolland.

The replays show Warburton gripped inside both of Vincent Clerc's thighs, lifted him, very deliberately twirled him over, and left the little wing to go head first towards the deck. It was a red card offence under the IRB dictate, no question at all. The French players immediately reacted angrily.

Had Warburton stayed on, France could have argued that they were robbed, that Rolland had not followed a clear and admirable IRB stance.

There is no worse action in football than this type of tackle and had Warburton remained on the field, the IRB might as well declare there will be no red cards in sudden death matches, a situation that would lead to all sorts of problems. All of Wales may argue about precedents, but that was the worst tackle I've seen at this World Cup.

There have been calls for rugby to adopt the league "on report" system. Instead, rugby and league should declare outright war. Tackles such as Warburton's are excessively violent and intimidatory, extremely dangerous, with no place in either game.

Abhorrence for them should not be diminished by the expectations of a World Cup. Far from being a World Cup travesty, Rolland followed the rules as he is required to do, and acted for the overall good of the game.