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:
https://twitter.com/eirSport/status/1185836267189297152
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.
WATCH 'HOUSE OF RUGBY LIVE IN LIMERICK' HERE:SUBSCRIBE HERE TO BAZ & ANDREW'S HOUSE OF RUGBY:https://playpodca.st/house-of-rugby-ieThe latest episode sees Andrew Trimble and Jerry Flannery look back on Ireland's World Cup exit to New Zealand.
