Saturday's game was spoiled by a contentious refereeing decision that affected the whole contest but I do not really blame Alain Rolland. The laws of the game may well state that Rolland was technically correct in the narrow sense in sending Sam Warburton off, but from the perspective of natural justice and empathy for the game, that decision was absolutely wrong. A health and safety focus has been allowed to ruin a game.
The referee should be allowed the discretion to make judgments but the tip tackle has been prioritised by the authorities leading into this World Cup, which puts pressure on referees to focus on it and punish it. Other referees have failed to act, which may now have left Rolland isolated. I think Rolland made a mistake, but I'm not carrying the burden of what the International Rugby Board wants to prioritise.
The early loss of Adam Jones was, in my opinion, almost as big a factor as Warburton's sending-off, or at least it would have been had Rolland refereed the scrum. Adam Jones's replacement, Paul James, is not a natural tighthead and he got taken apart for 40 minutes by Jean-Baptiste Poux. But Rolland never gave even one penalty. The Welsh scrum kept collapsing but Rolland did not grasp it. Having made such a huge call early in the game, Rolland appeared reticent to make any more.
This meant one of the key contests, and a chance for France to build a platform, was lost. That said, Toby Faletau did a manful job getting the ball out of the back of a retreating and collapsing scrum. If that had been any other game there would have been a succession of penalties against James, until Fabien Barcella came on for Poux to give him some respite.
Though Wales may claim they wanted to control the ball once Warburton was off, I think the fact Rhys Priestland was missing meant a slight change anyway, even if still within the template they play. Under Warren Gatland, before Priestland came on the scene, they have tended to run through the phases with forwards taking the ball round the corner repeatedly before making a move.
The difference with Priestland is that he has more variety in how quickly he calls the ball back. If there is a ruck around the 15-metre line, both James Hook and Stephen Jones let it go round again and again. It's very predictable and often easy to defend against, although it was where Mike Phillips's wonderful try came from – Wales round the corner a few times, the French expected it again and a gap opened up.
What Priestland does is to call the ball back earlier so there is not quite the same organisation but there is a little bit of broken field. We'll never know whether yesterday's reversion to a more controlled game was because of the personnel at fly-half – James Hook and Stephen Jones – or because Wales felt the need to tighten things up after Warburton's dismissal.
After the sending-off Wales had to go to five- and six-man lineouts. When they tried five, Lionel Nallet shut them down at the front. So they went to six, which can be dangerous because the decisions around the middle are easier to read with the options narrowed, as opposed to in a full seven-man lineout. Julien Bonnaire and Imanol Harinordoquy had a field day pinching balls in the middle. This was another direct result of Warburton going off.
The last penalty, which Leigh Halfpenny missed, was a shocker from Rolland. The ball was out and it was clearly not a ruck, if anything it was a penalty against Luke Charteris because he has to release the ball, but Nicolas Mas was penalised for coming in from the side even though there was no side to come in from.
If Halfpenny had kicked the penalty the French would have had every right to say the game was a disgrace. One weakness in Wales's game this World Cup has been their goal kicking. Hook missed one late against South Africa in the pool. Hook missed a penalty and Stephen Jones missed a conversion yesterday, to go with Halfpenny's late failure. Both matches were lost by a single point.
Whether yesterday would have been as close without the sending-off is something we will never know. Wales would have been able to compete at the lineout, but they would surely not have been treated so leniently at the scrum; Wales might have played a more varied game, but with Priestland missing they might not. The fact is we will not know because the game was about one event and that robbed everyone of something that had been so keenly anticipated.
Dean Ryan played for Wasps and Newcastle and coached Gloucester in the Premiership
