Warburton admits ref Rolland right to red card him

Wales international Sam Warburton admitted Thursday that Irish referee Alain Rolland had made the right call by giving him a red card during the World Cup semi-final against France last month. The 23-year-old flanker was sent off after just 17 minutes of Wales' 9-8 loss to France for a tip tackle on Vincent Clerc. And although the Irish official was blasted by coach Warren Gatland and the Welsh camp, Warburton, currently serving a three-week ban for the tackle, admitted that he had no complaints about the decision after seeing replays. "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," said Warburton. "I didn't intend it to look like that and I had only had a yellow card in my career 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 game and the forthcoming fixture. "At the end of the day the IRB said if you lift up a player and drop him it's a red card, and that's exactly what I did. I can't complain. There was no point in appealing against it and I didn't have a leg to stand on really." And Warburton said he was looking to follow the example of former England international David Beckham to ensure that the sending-off does not become the defining moment of his career as the footballer did when he was red carded at the 1998 football World Cup. Despite being vilified Los Angeles Galaxy's Beckham put his dismissal for kicking Argentina's Diego Simeone behind him with the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan player going on to become England's most capped outfield player. "I hope it's not what I am remembered for, but if in a year's time or 10 years' time people are still talking about it then maybe it will be," said Warburton. "It's one of those moments that has happened and hopefully I can build some better memories, whether it is for Cardiff or Wales. "People will remember it, it was a massive event in rugby, but it's just sport. Those things happen. But David Beckham is remembered for a lot of other things other than his red card against Argentina. "Things like that happen and it's up to myself to be positive in the future and create some better memories."