Wayne Barnes stunned by 'very classy' moment unseen this World Cup

Perhaps no one has ever taken being yellow carded as well as Romania flanker Florian Rosu did on Saturday against Scotland, or at least no one has at the World Cup so far.

Referee Wayne Barnes was forced to send the flanker to the sin bin in the first half for an infringement at a Scotland maul, which ended just metres from Romania’s line. There is one thing just walking off when you have been yellow carded but Rosu actually went a step further and shook Barnes’ hand and apologised to his teammates as he left the field.

The moment was so unexpected that Barnes actually singled out the 30-year-old this week on social media for his act of class. In fact, the moment was actually labeled as “very classy” by the veteran referee as that is not something he sees too often on a rugby pitch.

Barnes wrote on X: “Just reviewing the @RugbyRomania v @Scotlandteam game. It’s not often you get your hand shaken after giving a player a yellow card in a @rugbyworldcup. Very classy from Florian Rosu.”

Just reviewing the @RugbyRomania v @Scotlandteam game. It’s not often you get your hand shaken after giving a player a yellow card in a @rugbyworldcup. Very classy from Florian Rosu. pic.twitter.com/iNacddrkQL

— Wayne Barnes (@WayneBarnesRef) October 3, 2023

Romania were 21-0 down when Rosu was yellow carded as they went on to lose 84-0- their third heavy loss on the bounce. The Oaks face Tonga this weekend in their final match of the World Cup, where head coach Eugen Apjok hopes they will make a better account of themselves.

“We know Tonga are a very powerful team with very strong and physical players,” Apjok said after the loss to Scotland.

“We need to be smarter to find a methodology to go forward, after the maul and after the lineout. There are many different things we need to improve for the next match.”