The Wales coach Warren Gatland has revealed that his coaching team considered asking the remaining 14 players to try harder following the dismissal of captain Sam Warburton.
As a small and insignificant part of Britain searches for excuses, Gatland made the extraordinary revelation: "I know a lot has been spoken about the red card" he told reporters. "Later on in the game we did think about asking the remaining players to consider doing the basics right, such as slotting straightforward penalties between the posts and attempting a drop goal when you're one point behind and camped in the French 22".
"But morally, I made the decision that it wasn't the right thing to do. I couldn't bring myself to ask it of the players - it would have deprived them of their grief."
"Though I do plan to kidnap Duffy and use her for my personal gratification until Mike Phillips promises to make at least a half-arsed attempt to ground the ball a bit nearer the posts when scoring a try".
