Ref Watch: Wayne Barnes' reaction to doling out red card told own story
In a new feature, former referee Paul Smith looks at the refereeing performances of officials during each Six Nations match. Here Paul looks at Wayne Barnes.
Wales v Ireland – Wayne Barnes (England)
With Wales head coach Wayne Pivac under huge pressure and Ireland seeking to build on their comfortable Autumn Nations win over Wales and in the process propel themselves into a campaign which brings both France and England to the Aviva Stadium, the appointment of the vastly experienced Wayne Barnes was no great surprise.
And England’s No.1 delivered his usual calmly assured performance in a contest which hinged on the 13th minute dismissal of Ireland’s flanker Peter O’Mahony.
Talking Points
Johnny Sexton’s post-match BBC interview suggested O’Mahoney had not “got the rub of the green” in this incident and that the match contained other not dissimilar head contacts. In truth, outside his most one-eyed fans, Ireland’s captain is unlikely to find many who assent with this view.
There was much to admire from a refereeing perspective about the match officials’ handling of the incident which began with the timing and tone of the intervention from TMO Tom Foley.
Barnes’ real-time view of O’Mahoney’s arrival at the breakdown had been: “It’s a clear-out, totally unavoidable.” However, Foley quickly suggested the veteran official had a second look, from which he reassessed his position to unnecessary and dangerous foul play.
Barnes is a practicing barrister, and his subsequent step-by-step dissection of events being viewed on the giant screen followed recommended protocols to the letter.
“No.6 is arriving and we’ve got a left arm not trying to clear someone out but in a chicken-wing action,” he said. “Let’s deal with the facts. It’s foul play, he’s come from a distance at high speed and hit someone in the head when he’s not in control.”
This commentary served a dual purpose – about which Barnes may or may not have been aware – since he also provided the huge terrestrial TV audience, many of whom only watch rugby during the Six Nations, with the clearest possible explanation for the red card which followed.
Sending a player off in any level of the sport is something referees dread, and it is very easy to struggle with concentration afterwards as you replay the incident over and again in your head. Issuing a red card in the Six Nations – Ireland’s first in the competition’s 21-year history – is clearly a bigger deal than most, so it is a measure of Barnes’s experience and skill that he appeared entirely unaffected by it.
Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | |
Pens against Wales | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
Pens against Ireland | 4 (RC) | 0 | 4 | 3 |
What worked and what didn’t
Unlike the previous two round one contests, the scrum was almost immaculate since all ten setpieces completed without penalty and only one required a reset.
Throughout the first hour Barnes regularly reminded the front rows to maintain a good height; when he reviews the match he will doubtless reflect that this approach served him (and the TV viewers) well.
'…despite what social media appears to have determined the Irish official can look back on a job well done.'
In a new feature, Ref Watch, ex-ref Paul Smith 👨💻 looks at each Six Nations refereeing performance. First up, Andrew Brace in #ENGvWALhttps://t.co/EYRCvoNuOr
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 7, 2021
The veteran whistler is famed for the accuracy of his decision-making, and in this respect his post-match review will focus on the crucial 65th minute penalty awarded in front of the Ireland posts three points from which ultimately pushed the visitors out of range.
Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne had pounced on a ball emerging from a breakdown in close proximity to a Wales player on the ground when Barnes penalised him because the ball was still “in the tackle zone.”
Key questions here are whether Beirne was onside (he was) and whether the ball was either in a ruck (since no players were bound over it no ruck existed) or ‘near to’ a tackle – which law defines as within one metre – which it clearly was.
At this point law 14.9 (b) advises an arriving player: “Must remain on their feet, and not go to ground at or near the tackle unless tackled by the opposition,” which means Beirne’s instinctive drop on the ball was correctly penalised.
Comments on RugbyPass
If rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to comments