Absolutely no need for this.
A France red card. A French farce in Japan.
In their pomp, France always found a way of winning.
In the past decade, Les Bleus are finding new and pointless ways of blowing winning positions.
19-10 up against Wales at half-time, and with a rolling maul ticking away just five metres from the tryline of the Grand Slam champions, Sébastien Vahaamahina had a complete brain-fade.
The France lock took exception to Aaron Wainwright making a nuisance of himself in the maul and first attempted a choke-hold – that in itself was dangerous play – before unleashing a frightful elbow.
The connection with the cheek of Wainwright was hefty and it left referee Jaco Peyper with no choice but to issue a red card.
https://twitter.com/steve_l15/status/1185835520879812608
Vahaamahina’s red was the first time a player had been sent off in the knock-out stages of a World Cup since Sam Warburton (of Wales) was issued his marching orders, against France, in the 2011 semi-final.
Here is the full video of the nasty incident:
RED CARD:
48 mins: Wales 10-19 France.
France's Sebastien Vahaamahina sent off for a cynical elbow on Wales' Aaron Wainwright.#WALvFRA #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/75pmZlv20a
— eir Sport (@eirSport) October 20, 2019
The lock apologised to his teammates on the way off the pitch, knowing he had left them with one hell of 30-minute spell to survive.
They lasted until the 74th minute until Ross Moriarty sealed the Welsh comeback with a try that Dan Biggar converted to make it 20-19.
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