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Wayne Barnes (born 20 April 1979 in Gloucestershire, England) is an English international rugby union referee. He became a professional referee in April 2005, giving up a career in law to do so. Barnes is also the youngest referee ever appointed to the Panel of National Referees, having been given the position in 2001, aged just 21. He started playing rugby at age eight, and took up refereeing aged 15. He is currently a regular referee in the Guinness Premiership, and has refereed games in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup.
In 2006, Barnes made his Test debut as a referee, taking charge of three matches in the inaugural Pacific Five Nations and the Italy versus France match in the 2006 Six Nations. Before that, he had refereed at the 2003 U19 World Cup in Paris, the 2005 Under 21 Rugby World Championship in Argentina and he was the English representative on the Sevens circuit from December 2003 to March 2005. In April 2007, it was announced that Barnes would be one of three English referees at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the others being Chris White and Tony Spreadbury. Barnes was given control of four matches at the World Cup, those being South Africa versus Tonga, Samoa versus USA (both Pool A), New Zealand versus Italy (Pool C) and Ireland versus Georgia (Pool D).
Barnes refereed the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between France and New Zealand on 6 October 2007, which was his eleventh international match. His performance caused controversy among fans and commentators alike. Most notably, he missed a forward pass which resulted directly in a converted try for France late in the match.
Following the match former All Black Grant Fox suggested that while the French were moving forward in the competition Barnes should not. However, Paddy O'Brien, the head of the International Rugby Board referee's panel, said that the loss could not be blamed on refereeing. Both New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen and the New Zealand Rugby Union Chairman Jock Hobbs stated they believe some of Barnes' decisions were crucial to influencing the outcome of the match, while New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark stated that she would have hoped that the All Blacks played well enough for the refereeing not to be an issue. An interview with a 'top 10' New Zealand referee in the New Zealand Herald suggested that while Barnes' decisions may have cost New Zealand the match on the scoreboard, they still should have been good enough to win the game. He concluded that despite Barnes' errors, his performance in the game was adequate.
Following the quarter-final match several death threats were made to Barnes over the internet, including on Barnes' wikipedia article. There was also large amounts of abuse and criticism posted on message boards and internet sites, including bebo. Although Barnes will not referee any more World Cup matches he will be working in the technical area during the South Africa versus Argentina semi-final match, and extra security has been allocated to him because of the recent threats.
References
- ^ "Wayne Barnes Joins Elite Referees". RFU.com. 2005-04-06. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Premiership Referees". GuinnessPremiership.com. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ "Ref faces backlash as 'pampered' ABs, not Henry, take the blame". nzherald.co.nz. 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - TV3 (New Zealand) live coverage, 7 October 2007
- Ward, Greg (2007-10-08). "N Zealand stunned by All Blacks' exit". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Rugby: Criticism of ref reaches top levels". tv3.co.nz. 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "NZRU to pursue concerns about World Cup refereeing". radionz.co.nz. 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Wayne Barnes in line for protection as angry fans issue threats". timesonline.co.uk. 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Patrick Gower: Wayne Barnes' referee report card". nzherald.co.nz. 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Death threats outrage refs chief". bbc.co.uk. 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)