The referee made what I think was a harsh decision, I think a Yellow Card would have been enough, but the decision was not a travesty. The law on lifting a player in the tackle was emphasised before the tournament to all participants - and what Warburton did was dangerous play - he didn't spear the player but in allowing him to drop on his head is also stated in the rules as danger ous play.

It is unfortunate but the person who is an idiot is Warburton - there was no need to lift him and as he turned over then drop him.

The real disappointment is that if he hadn't got sent off Wales would have very probably won.

Wales should have won anyway. Hook and Jones both missed penalties they would normally have been put between the posts.

I just hope France don't play like that in the Final. They'll be an embarrassment to the NH. Not that they haven't been so far this RWC.

Wales would not have been good champions anyway,they'd have been thrashed left right and centre.

maybe they would be thrashed but not as bad as France will be worst team ever to make the final

"France will be worst team ever to make the final"

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Lost to Tonga and NZ, and deserved to lose to England and Wales, and still in the final. Doesn't matter if NZ or Oz win the other Semi. There name is pretty much on the Web Ellis Trophy now, barring an amazing turnaround by Livremont and his men.

I have to say that France have failed to excite and won't be good champions for 4 years if they win it. There were no gigantic thrashings this time around ie 134-0 to England v Romania. I don't know if the lower teams are getting better or the top teams are getting worse. I'd like to see a NH team win it though being English.

Wales will be remembered as the gallant little country that played great and were robbed. France will be remembered as the team that got thrashed by the All Blacks

France have done quite well against the All Blacks in thre past having knocked them out of the tournament before.

I'm going to play devils advocate here!

Yes Wales were 'robbed' by a bad referee but everyone seems to have forgotten the fact that they missed two penaltys and a conversion - an easy one at that for somebodys of jones's calibre. (Ignoring Halfpennys halfway line punt because you cant realistically call that a missed oppurtunity!) France were clincal scoring 9 from 9 points! Wales only 8 from 16/19! Maybe a little blame/soul searching needs to happen a little closer to home?

n.b. im not welsh but would have loved to see Wales in the final, if only to see the french out! It would a be a travesty if this France team wins the world cup!

What get's right up my nose is refs and administrators who think they or adherence to the rules per se are more important than the game. Administrators, refs and rules are there to facillitate a game between two sets of players trying to decide who is the best team. Failing to get Bolt into the final of the 100m in the World Champioships, failing to deliver Rug-top into the Euros and now failing to get an excellent Wales team into the semis of the RWCs is the third time in as many months where they have got it spectacularly wrong. I am no fan of Wales Bolt or Rooney but speaking as a sportsfan I think that their skills having been denied to the sporting public is a massive own goal.

No sympathy whatsoever.

Wales had countless chances to get ahead of a struggling French side.

If England had lost in that fashion, the forums wouldn't look like this. They would be awash with terms like 'sour grapes', 'sore losers', 'arrogant' etc.

As an Irishman, I wanted to see Wales win, but if you are to go by the letter of the law, the Irish ref made the right decision. It reminds me of the French hand ball in the world cup play offs, although the French cheated, we the Irish had ample chances to win the match, just like the Welsh, a conversion off the posts and a near miss long penalty.

At the end of the day, Rolland strictly obeyed the laws of the game, but Wales with their ten men should have won, why didn't they even go for the drop goal from distance at the end, they bottled it, suppose some Welsh supporters will differ, but they bottled it. Messed up, just like our soccer team against France.

original - Wales were in the semi's.
David - Wales had 14 men on the pitch.

Right - enough of me being a picky sh1tebag......well done Wales, you did youselves extremely proud. I genuinely feel for Warburton - fine player with a great career ahead.....who was done over by a referee who didnt have the balls or the common sense to manage the situation with anything more than a moronic sense of monkey see monkey do....what a clown!!

@First Slip

Wales did have fourteen men, ritghtly or wrongly or fairly or rightly but just like the Irish soccer team had ample chances to rectify previous dubious chances and failed. As an Irishman I wanted Wales in the final, the French were jammy, but like the Irish in soccer, the Welsh had many chances to correct a dubious decisison. At the end of the day just like the ROI soccer team, they ruined their chances and let the cheap frogs progress

I understand the whole 'we had ample opportunities to win it' but you have to respect that was a herculean effort to get that close.

When you lose a player to the bin it's like every other player on the pitch has to find an extra 10% to give. Warburton wasn't there to stem any French attacks, he wasn't there to carry ball, and he wasn't there to add his weight and influence in the set piece or breakdown. The effort to keep a team contained like that was immense. To have had an extra man would have been a bloody godsend.

Like I've said, I would have loved if one of our kicks could have gone over, but I thought the way we played by trying to score a try was probably a good a chance as any, given our luck from the boot. Stephen Jones had an earlier potshot that was very wobbly, and he didn't look very comfortable playing so I suspect that was playing on his mind.

Don't want to say 'there's always 4 years time' but that's all we can say now.

Refs and administrators should realise that rules are made for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools and stop behaving with such obduracy!

Lets just have anarchy on a field.

I'm English but I was gutted for Wales, really wanted them to win.

I wish the rules could be applied with common sense and consistency going forwards so that we don't have a repeat of the nonsense from the weekend.

If it goes against then naturally you'll be up in arms as per the reaction to Wales defeat

Had a French player been sent off it would have been 'the ref did a great job in applying the laws of the game'

Warbuton let the player go from a height. He might actually have been better to hold on and make sure he landed. The ref was clearly within his rights to send him off

Wales still had numerous chances and had their kicking game been better they had a chance. However lets be clear France played a game of containment from the red card, they did enough but no more. The missed kicks highlighted the ongoing problem among the smaller nations. They can't get over the line when the pressure is at its highest. It's always some kind of glorious failure / outside reason why the team failed. Actually it was the lack of winners mentality by the players! They didn't know how to win!

Same old story I'm afraid. Couldn't get the job done

The OTT coverage for a team that nearly beat SA, lost to France for what the 8th time in 9? And the lost 'again' to Australia is baffling.

Beating Ireland and some minnows does not make a 'great' side set to dominate northern hemisphere rugby.

Effectively they bottled it again....