When you spend as long at the top of rugby as has Wayne Barnes, recently retired after officiating at the Rugby World Cup FInal in his 100th test match, you are likely to attract opinions from all sides.
Let me begin by saying that Barnesy is a personal friend as well as a member and supporter of Sporting Wine Club, having introduced me to one of our best wineries, Peregrine Estates in Queenstown NZ, which is owned by a former International Referee, Lindsay MacLachlan. ‘Does a referee count as an authentic sporting connection?’ he asked humbly, and of course they do because without them we have no sport.
In my humble opinion, he and Nigel Owens share top billing in the modern era ( many others like Clive Norling would come into an all time list) but sometimes they can be remembered for the wrong reasons.
I had many fun times with Barnesy in Europe when I was Chairman, a wonderful dinner at an Island restaurant in the middle of the River Seine after a Racing match with him and all his team springs to mind. Also, a memorable night out in Clermont after they had been knocked out of the Champions Cup possibly due to a questionable try-scoring pass from Dan Carter for Racing 92. I was in protection mode as various supporters felt the need to continue the conversation, even in a late night bar! Decision made move on! Beer Ping pong in Bordeaux was another fun-filled evening before a critical Heineken Cup semifinal. These are experiences to savour even if onfield the stakes are high. It is what we all love in rugby and referees are after the same as players and supporters are.
The cowards who operate online behind the scenes to vent their pathetic anger over decisions have no understanding of team sport, winning and losing ( in life too?), or indeed people in general. For this to be a reason why Wayne called time on his incredible career leaves us suffering our own version of a red card, and we must all act to change behaviour as do regulators, companies and even governments.
Talking of red cards, I was never sent off in my career but I came close in a Bath match v Newport on a Wednesday night when a crowd of 10,000 turned up to see if Bath could be defeated during a period of great dominance in the 80’s and Newport was one of the top teams in the land as were we. As a maul came to a halt, the International Referee Les Peard ( a Gwent Policeman 6ft 7 ins tall) gave Newport the scrum put in, wrongly. I called out ‘Oh Dear’ and he called me over for a lecture threatening to send me off for dissent. I humbly enquired why ‘Oh Dear’ was such a heinous offence and he glared at me -‘It was the way you said it’ and marched us back another ten yards. The ‘Orcs’ in the Bath pack were not amused and I learnt to keep my mouth shut – well for the next ten minutes!
Wayne himself claimed at one point he was the third most unpopular person in New Zealand after Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden for missing a French forward pass in their Rugby World Cup quarter final win over the All Blacks in 2007. But of course that was not the reason a rather poor team lost to an average French side who were themselves pumped by a mediocre England team who themselves got to the World Cup Final that year!
When the dust settles on Rugby World Cup 2023, it may be that we remember more the superlative career of our man in the middle who has the utmost respect of the rugby world rather than the ‘scrapping performances’ of our National team. They must now make sure that they rebuild for 2027 with the underlying values which have characterised those of a referee to which all others aspire. Here’s to you, Mr Barnes!
