WALES’ World Cup captain Sam Warburton admits that the tackle that saw him sent off in their semi-final defeat to France was “uglier” than he had thought, and that referee Alain Rolland was correct to show him a red card.

The 23-year-old Cardiff Blues flanker led Warren Gatland’s side with great aplomb in New Zealand but saw red just 17 minutes into their last-four clash after a tip tackle on France wing Vincent Clerc.

Irish official Rolland came in for criticism for his decision after Wales went on to suffer a heartbreaking 9-8 defeat at Eden Park, but the International Rugby Board backed their man for following a directive that any tackle where a player is lifted and not returned to ground safely should result in a dismissal.

And Warburton, currently serving a three-week ban for his tackle, said: “I have seen it played back, the tackle is a lot uglier than I thought it was at the time. When I looked at it on the replays it looked worse than I thought it was.

“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, but there was nothing I could do and I just had to support the boys for the rest of that match and the remaining game against Australia.

“The IRB said if you lift up a player and drop him it’s a red card, and that’s exactly what I did.”