I DO have sympathy with referee Alain Rolland after the decision that has had the entire world of rugby talking all week.

We all have the benefit of being the armchair viewer, getting to see things repeated in slow motion, whereas the referee is expected to make his decision virtually straightaway with the world watching and analysing his move.

That said, my first instinct over Wales captain Sam Warburton’s tackle on Vincent Clerc in Saturday’s semi-final between Wales and France, was that it was a yellow card and I was totally shocked that it was a red that was shown.

If you are applying the exact letter of the law then yes, it was the right decision. The problem was that hadn’t happened before then in the tournament.

You would have thought common sense would have applied given the occasion and that maybe the referee would have walked away, digested the incident and maybe talked to his touch judges. Instead he made a snap decision.

So it is France in the final. I’m glad to see at least one of my picks has made it, although they are not exactly winning any friends.

They just seem to have done enough and no more. They were happy to finish second in their pool, played in patches against England and didn’t seem interested in taking the game to a weakened Wales.

That said, you write them off at your peril. If a motivated French side turn up for the final against New Zealand then anything can happen.

If there is just a score between the sides around the 70 minute mark of Sunday’s final, then I fancy them because the pressure on New Zealand will be enormous.

That said, on what we’ve seen so far, you could end up with a margin of victory similar to when these two sides met in the first World Cup final 24 years ago.