Ref report cards - rating Wayne Barnes' France vs Wales performance
With Japan 2019 looming into view, the Six Nations offers a last opportunity for players to press their case for selection.
This is also the case for the match officials, a number of whom retain realistic ambitions of following in the footsteps of Kerry Fitzgerald, Derek Bevan, Ed Morrison, Andre Watson, Alain Rolland, Craig Joubert and Nigel Owens in taking charge of a World Cup final.
For World Rugby’s five-strong match official selection committee, including manager Joel Jutge, performances in the Northern Hemisphere’s elite competition will therefore be under close scrutiny.
And with each of this year’s 15 matches being under the control of a different referee, the contenders have only one chance to impress.
Former Birmingham Mail and Coventry Telegraph rugby correspondent Paul Smith took charge of the whistle at more than 800 matches – here is his assessment of the first weekend’s officials.
Continue reading below…
France 19-24 Wales – referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Management and Communication
The most experienced referee in world rugby, for whom Japan 2019 will be a fitting finale to an outstanding career, Barnes exudes confidence and calmness.
But like any referee, his ability to communicate to equal effect with both teams is language dependent – and his French is very limited.
Barnes deserves credit for making an effort – the ref mic picked up “attend pour le balloon” plus “advantage – en avant,” “lentement” and “melee rouge”.
But in this preventative refereeing age, while he was able to hold more detailed conversations with the Welsh players, the fact that not all of the French 23 speak fluent English put them at an immediate disadvantage.
For instance, “we need tempo in the game” was directed at les Bleus shortly before the interval, while the front rows heard – but possibly didn’t totally understand – “let’s get this working on this side please, good heights from both of you”.
Should Jacques Brunel’s team make the knock-out stages in Japan it is essential for the competition’s credibility that they encounter a bi-lingual referee – the supply of which is far from plentiful outside of France – to ensure the contest takes place on a level playing field.
In-Match Refereeing Trends
The match swung in Wales’ favour from the half-hour mark onwards, and as a consequence they retrieved a 16-point deficit.
From a refereeing perspective, the scrum was the key factor in this, with the hosts conceding three penalties and two free-kicks while the visitors infringed only once. This gave Wales both possession and territory.
Barnes will have been aware pre-match of the huge pack selected by France, which along with the emphasis they put on scrummaging will have sharpened his focus on this area.
Key Moments
Crowd noise following a big screen replay drew Barnes’ attention to Liam Williams’ non-grounding of the ball for a try which he had awarded at the end of the opening quarter.
TMO! FRA 5-0 WAL – Liam Williams shows just what a threat he can be, but Wayne Barnes is having a look upstairs… [17 mins]
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 1, 2019
The TMO may have been in the process of reviewing the situation – but either way the English official’s experience showed, as he immediately positioned himself in front of the ball to prevent a conversion attempt while the grounding was examined.
Barnes later ruled out another Welsh score when Ross Moriarty went through a gap which he identified as being illegally created by Alun Wyn Jones’ block – this was done without a lengthy TMO delay.
Barnes also enjoyed the rare distinction of drawing praise from the TV pundits, when his patient wait for an unlikely Welsh advantage to come to fruition ended with Yoann Huget fumbling a kick for George North’s second try.
Huget’s own earlier score also resulted from Barnes’ use of a long advantage following a Wales lineout knock-on, despite two subsequent phases of slow possession resulting.
World Cup?
Barnes is a certainty to make the selection cut, and a strong contender for the knock-out phases. Should things go well from there – and England not be involved – his case for a final appointment may well be persuasive, but will the language barrier be considered a problem?
Comments on RugbyPass
The Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
2 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
2 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
10 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
10 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
10 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
3 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
3 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
3 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to comments