'Of course it was [a forward pass]' says Wayne Barnes
Wayne Barnes has revealed how his mistake in the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-final spurred him on to become one of rugby’s top referees.
In a wide-ranging interview with Radio Sport’s D’Arcy Waldegrave – which you can watch in full above – Barnes talks about his career at length, including, of course, that famous decision in the All Blacks‘ quarter-final defeat to France, where a missed forward pass which led to a French try proved crucial in France’s eventual 20-18 victory.
Now one of the world’s most highly-rated referees, who was given the bronze medal match between the All Blacks and Wales at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Barnes says the public criticism and his own drive to improve made him a superior referee.
“Everyone improves over time. I went into the 2007 World Cup probably only refereeing three or four test matches, and I’ve now refereed about 90, so you learn from those games – like New Zealand v France, and of course I’ve learned from my mistakes in that game.
“You’re 28 years old, at the start of your career – I guess it was a bit of a motivator to do a bit better. That’s how I definitely saw it, and this World Cup for me, nobody was talking about Wayne Barnes’ performance, so maybe 12 years of experience has helped do that.”
Barnes also revealed the ultimate reason for his blunder when missing the forward pass, saying that he immediately knew he had made an error when he saw it on the stadium’s screen, but the laws in 2007 did not allow the Television Match Official to overturn the decision.
“Of course it was [a forward pass] – we’ve all seen it. You know it’s a forward pass about two or three seconds later when you look up on the screen and you see it, the problem was that the TMO protocols were different then, and that’s probably part of the reason why they’ve changed it.”
Barnes, who was voted the 2019 World Rugby referee of the year, pointed to one of England’s tries being ruled out in the semifinal against the All Blacks due to obstruction as a ruling he wouldn’t have been able to make in 2007.
“The referee would have given that in 2007 because he didn’t see it clearly, and then we’d be talking about the referee. But Nigel Owens went upstairs to Marius Jonker, and they made the right decision. That’s where we’ve evolved as a sport over the last 12 years – we get the big calls right, more often than not.”
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Now, Barnes hopes that his intense attention to detail and preparation means that his name is rarely mentioned after refereeing a big match, having made plenty of changes since 2007.
“I just wanted to get better on the back of it – that was my first tournament, my first knockout game,” he explained to Waldegrave.
“I probably spent more time with coaches after that to try and learn the game better, I’ve now got a set-piece and a scrummaging coach, Phil Keith-Roach, who I review every game with. I’ve worked harder on my fitness – as a 28-year-old in 2007 I probably took it for granted that I’d always be fit, now I’ve got an extraordinarily good support team around me with strength and conditioning and physio support.
“I’ve put a board around me to make sure that when I go into big matches, nothing’s put to chance – sports psychologists, former international referees, my wife – five or six people around me helping to make sure that when I make a decision, nothing’s left to chance, and it’s more likely that nobody’s talking about me after the match.”
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The 40-year-old also joked that he has a much better relationship with New Zealanders now, than he did in 2007.
“I was quite surprised that I was voted the third-most hated man in New Zealand in 2007. I’m told it was behind Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein! Whether that’s justified is a matter for you and your listeners,” he laughed.
“They’ve definitely mellowed with me and I can say that with confidence, because in 2007, there was a bar in Queenstown called Cowboys which had a bust of my head in one of the urinals – and you can imagine what people did with that. But I went back there a few years ago – and I’d been replaced by Donald Trump!
“So you must have mellowed.”
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.
La Rochelle hooker Pierre Bourgarit has received just a six-week ban for eye-gouging:
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments