Wayne Barnes
Wayne Barnes (born 20 April 1979 in Gloucestershire, England) is an English international rugby union referee. He became a professional referee in April 2005, giving up a career in law to do so.[1] Barnes is also the youngest referee ever appointed to the Panel of National Referees, having been given the position in 2001, aged just 21.[2] He started playing rugby at age eight, and took up refereeing aged 15.[1] He is currently a regular referee in the Guinness Premiership, and has refereed games in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup.
In 2006, Barnes made his Test debut as a referee, taking charge of three matches in the inaugural Pacific Five Nations and the Italy versus France match in the 2006 Six Nations.[2] Before that, he had refereed at the 2003 U19 World Cup in Paris, the 2005 Under 21 Rugby World Championship in Argentina and he was the English representative on the Sevens circuit from December 2003 to March 2005.[2] In April 2007, it was announced that Barnes would be one of three English referees at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the others being Chris White and Tony Spreadbury. Barnes was given control of four matches at the World Cup, those being South Africa versus Tonga, Samoa versus USA (both Pool A), New Zealand versus Italy (Pool C) and Ireland versus Georgia (Pool D).
In the 2008 Six Nations Championship, Barnes became the first English official ever to take charge of a match at Croke Park, in which Wales beat Ireland 16–12. He was also appointed to take charge of his first Heineken Cup knockout match, between Stade Toulousain and Cardiff Blues at Le Stadium on 6 April 2008.
Performance
2007 Rugby World Cup Quarter Final
Barnes refereed the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between France and New Zealand on 6 October 2007, which was his eleventh international match. His performance caused controversy among fans and commentators alike.[3] Most notably late in the match, he sent All Black Luke McAlister to the sin bin, reducing the All Blacks to 14 players, and then shortly afterwards missed a forward pass which resulted directly in a converted try for France. Following these controversial errors, Barnes was confronted by the International Rugby Board (IRB) in a disciplinary hearing, concerning his international career. An interview with a 'top 10' New Zealand referee in the New Zealand Herald suggested that while Barnes' decisions may have cost New Zealand the match on the scoreboard, they still should have been good enough to win the game. He concluded that despite Barnes' errors, his performance in the game was adequate.[4] Following the quarter-final match several death threats were made to Barnes over the internet,[5] including on Barnes' Wikipedia article.
An 'Independent Review of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Campaign', conducted by Russel McVeagh lawyers and SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand), found that Wayne Barnes and the touch judges had a significant impact on the result of the match. The report states that "The penalty count was 10–2 against the All Blacks, with none awarded in the second half, despite dominance in territory and possession (which statistically should result in penalties awarded to the dominant side). On anyone's account the referees and touch judges made mistakes which worked against the All Blacks."[6]
In June 2008, All Black Lock Ali Williams criticised referee Wayne Barnes for his performance in their rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to France. Speaking about Barnes, Williams was quoted as saying "And you've got to look at the ref. Seventeen unawarded penalties, that's bulls***."[7]
After the World Cup Quarter Final, the IRB's head referee, Paddy O'Brien, himself a New Zealander, defended Barnes: "I think it's a disgrace and people have to grow up. New Zealand losing that game was not all about the forward pass. The pass was forward but that's rugby refereeing. I thought the referee actually had a decent game. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you can't turn back the clock. He's a superb referee and we have a lot of confidence in him, that's why we gave him the quarter-final. He's an outstanding individual as a person and it makes me sick to the stomach to hear some of the comments that have been made about him." [8]
2008 South Africa vs Argentina Test Match
On 7 June 2008, the Dominion Post reported that Barnes was out of favour, as his performances during the past six months have not impressed the selectors, meaning he had not been given any new test appointments."[9] However, in August 2008 he officiated a Test match between South Africa and Argentina. His performance in this test has also been criticised. Rugby Journalist Spiro Zavos has stated that it was not clear which set of rules Barnes thought the teams should have been playing under, as Barnes applied different ELV (Experimental law variations) to each of the teams. [10]
2008 Scotland vs New Zealand Test Match
Barnes has since refereed the All Blacks again, when they beat Scotland 32-6 in November 2008. Despite a convincing victory, Steve Hansen, All Blacks Assistant Coach said that he could not comment on Barnes' performance because "if I said what I thought, I would probably get fined so there is no point in me saying that, is there?" However he did say that All Blacks management would be writing to complain to the IRB head referee, Paddy O'Brien. Rugby Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, Wynne Gray, identified several issues with Barnes' refereeing skills, including: a player from each side being sin binned for committing penalty offences, being inconsistent for watching other players commit those same offences and not sin-binning them, several forward passes or knock-ons not being called, and that he is incapable of dealing with the scrum. [11]
2009 Australia vs South Africa Test Match
In September 2009 Barnes refereed a match won by Australia 21-6 over South Africa. His performance throughout the match has been described as that of "a frightened schoolboy". Sports journalist Paul Lewis has noted that infringements that Barnes did not see and/or rule upon included the following:
1. A "flying crunch" by South African Heinrich Brussouw on Wallaby Tatafu Polota-Nau. This offense is normally punishable by a penalty or yellow card.
2. Matt Giteau's drop goal before halftime. Barnes was standing in front of the posts but had to ask the video referee if it had gone over, even though in Lewis' opinion Barnes should have been able to see it clearly.
3. At least two forward passes.
Lewis also states that Barnes could have played the 'advantage' rule better, as he was using it "like a typical northern hemisphere ref". [12]
During this match, South African coach Peter "De Villiers couldn't fathom the nature of the scrum infringements awarded against his side by English referee Wayne Barnes". [13]
References
- ^ a b "Wayne Barnes Joins Elite Referees". RFU.com. 2005-04-06. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "Premiership Referees". GuinnessPremiership.com. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ "Ref faces backlash as 'pampered' ABs, not Henry, take the blame". nzherald.co.nz. 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Patrick Gower: Wayne Barnes' referee report card". nzherald.co.nz. 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Death threats outrage refs chief". bbc.co.uk. 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ allblacks.com, Independent Review of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Campaign
- ^ "Rugby: All Blacks: Williams attacks Barnes for Cardiff display". nzherald.co.nz. 2008-06-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ English ref Wayne Barnes backed after NZ slur, Daily Telegraph, 9 October 2007
- ^ "Walsh and Barnes axed from test action". rugbyheaven.co.nz. 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Springboks hot against the Pumps but referee Barnes is not". theroar.com. 2008-08-11. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "All Blacks to moan again about Barnes". www.nzherald.co.nz. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Rugby: Boks lose Barnes-stormer". www.nzherald.co.nz. 2009-09-06. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Rugby: Refs are against us, claims de Villiers". www.nzherald.co.nz. 2009-09-08. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)