Sam Warburton: World Cup red card was right

Wales captain Sam Warburton has said that referee Alain Rolland's controversial decision to send him off in the World Cup semi-final was correct.

The 23-year-old was dismissed during Wales's 9-8 defeat against France last month for a dangerous tackle on Vincent Clerc.

At the time, many spectators and professionals felt that the flanker should have been shown a yellow card instead.

"The IRB (International Rugby Board) said if you lift up a player and drop him it's a red card, and that's exactly what I did," said Warburton.

"I can't complain. There was no point in appealing against it and I didn't have a leg to stand on really.

"I didn't intend to do anything like that and I had only had a yellow card in my career up until that point so it was a shock to get a red."

Rolland has since been ruled out of officiating any of Wales's matches in next year's Six Nations.