To spear or not to spear
The only topic of conversation at the pub this weekend was the Rugby Union World Cup – and more specifically Wales'tragic exit from the competition at the hands of the French. It’s hardly surprising that our neighbours from across The Channel were seen as the villains for beating the plucky Welsh, but it didn’t help that they won in such controversial circumstances, beating one of the best Wales teams for many years. A Wales team that some people had even dared to believe might win the whole tournament.
However, it wasn’t the game itself that was being discussed or even the result, but one match-defining moment that occurred early in the game, when Wales captain and something of a talisman, Sam Warburton was sent off for a spear tackle on one of the French. For those of you who don’t know much about rugby, a spear challenge involves a player lifting an opponent off their feet, before planting them, firmly, head-first into the ground. Rather like throwing a very big, hairy, sweaty spear. They’re banned for several reasons, not least the fact that the game might be bankrupted by a spinal cord injury claim!
The controversial aspect of Warburton’s dismissal and Wales'subsequent defeat was that not all the experts agreed that it was actually a spear tackle. In fact, I have yet to see the incident discussed in the press without the use of quotation marks around the word “spear”. Every pundit, player, official and bloke down the pub seem to agree that Warburton was badly done to and that a period in the sin bin would have been a more appropriate punishment for his transgression. As it was, he was only on the pitch 18 minutes, has been banned for three weeks and, worst of all, has seen his beloved Wales tumble out of a World Cup they could have won. After all, they would only have had to beat hosts New Zealand in the final….
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