Wayne Barnes is said to have upset most countries but is still considered one of the best international referees. Photo: Paul Harding/Getty Images
Wayne Barnes was named as the referee for New Zealand's World Cup quarter-final against Ireland on Saturday, 16 years after he oversaw the All Blacks' exit at the same stage of the 2007 tournament.
The Englishman continued his phenomenal career by being selected for his fourth World Cup in a row. This will be his fourth quarter-final after a semi-final in 2015 and two third-place play-offs in 2011 and 2019.
The 44-year-old has led New Zealand and Ireland once each in the past month. He was central to the All Blacks' 73-0 thrashing of Uruguay last Thursday and Ireland's 59-16 win over Tonga on September 16.
In another bad omen for Ian Foster's men, the last game Barnes watched between the sides was the series decider in Wellington 15 months ago, when Ireland won 32-22.
Back in 2007, in his first World Cup knockout game at the age of 28, Barnes was widely criticized across New Zealand following France's 20–18 win over the much-loved All Blacks and was subsequently voted the «third greatest hated player.» people in New Zealand that year. He has since admitted a «huge mistake» in awarding France a try despite a clear forward pass from Damien Trail to Frederic Michalak in the build-up to the attack.
Meanwhile, Ben O'Keeffe will referee the next matches . a draw between South Africa and France, hosts of the tournament, which will also be held in Saint-Denis, the site of the semi-finals and decider.
Barnes served the two countries at their last bout in November in Marseille. Subsequently, following France's 30-26 win over the Springboks and a series of social media videos posted by Rassie Erasmus, he and his family were subjected to abuse on social media.
Completing the Referees for the last eight matches: Jaco Paper sets up Wales' clash with Argentina, while Mathieu Raynal will take charge of England's game against Fiji. Both quarter-finals will take place at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille.
Steve Borthwick's side are unlikely to be too disappointed with their fate, given Raynal refereed their 27-10 pool triumph over Argentina last month.
The former international referee spoke to The Telegraph Rugby Podcast last week JP Doyle suggested that one of Barnes, O'Keefe or Paper could watch the final if they were eligible.
“Citizenship is always important,” Doyle said. “If New Zealand gets there, Ben O'Keefe won't, and there's South Africa and England. You're looking at those three judges, but that's a subjective choice of the decision makers.
“It might be beyond those three, but you're strongly suggesting that Wayne Barnes, competing in his fifth World Championship since 2007 years to date, will be the best player in this field. He showed it, refereed many big games this way and irritated probably every country because he officiated so many big games [and] it's impossible to make people happy all the time.
“But people believe he's class and what's really interesting is that because he officiates, people in general will believe what he says as fact because they know he has the best interests of the game at heart. Other judges who don't judge in this style get on people's nerves much quicker because you don't show the class that the best guys show.»
England seeks clearer guidance on unraveling after Samoan unrest class='tmg-particle embed wrp-55657438-4614-4728-a7e2-b 43373d5159c' name='Daniel Schofield, Deputy Rugby Union Correspondent' data-truncated='false' data-business-type='editorial' loading='eager' scroll='no'frameborder='0' style='width: 100%; min-width: 100%; border: none; position: static; display: block; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;'>
England have called for more clarity in the refereeing of their crunch clash against Fiji after citing a «confused» interpretation of the match against Samoa.
French referee Mathieu Raynal will take charge of the quarter-final clash in Marseille after being sent off. Tom Curry in their first World Cup victory over Argentina.
England entered the tournament having suffered their first defeat to Fiji 30–22 at Twickenham, where they were thoroughly routed. England had further problems in this area after their 18-17 win over Samoa, leading head coach Steve Borthwick to question the referee's interpretation of the ruck.
“After today I will have to better understand the interpretations that were applied on the field to certain scenarios. We felt there were a few things there that were a bit confusing,» Borthwick told the BBC. “I will get full understanding regarding the review of this game because it will be very important next week against Fiji. “They contest the ball on the floor at almost every breakdown, so we need to understand exactly how that's going to be serviced. This will be an important part of our preparation.”
England have improved their discipline significantly since Borthwick took over from Eddie Jones as head coach, and no team has conceded fewer penalties out of their 22 than England at the World Cup. However, their discipline is still a work in progress, with forward coach Richard Wigglesworth highlighting Fiji's sloppiness when rolling out of tackles.
“We need the break to be as clean as we know it to be. We know that Fiji is exceptional in this area. To be completely honest, you learn something new in every game because they all referee a little differently. This is human nature. It will be a little different. They want guys out of the capture zone before you can compete.
“Fiji tends to just compete and then see it through. They slow it down or take it away from you. That's going to be a huge part of the game where we need to make sure we're at our best because that's definitely their superpower.»
Reynal is known to be a big whistler. the official and England spend hours analyzing the officials' tendencies. Flanker Tom Curry says they pay particular attention to the accuracy of their swings at the break.
«We just need to make sure we get the ball,» Curry said. . “As far as the referees are concerned at the moment and what they see, it’s about us getting the ball. This will be important.
“The best way to do this is to completely remove him (Reynal) from it, making the right decisions and obviously following his tendencies. Ultimately, it's about making the right decisions. Who doesn't need good decisions, be it a referee or a player? To do this, you have to dominate physically and work together — these things come into play so that you don't leave it up to someone else. It's really your decision.”
Свежие комментарии