IRB backs its referees
There has been a torrent of criticism, much of it abusive, in the wake of New Zealand’s defeat in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup, much of the criticism aimed at the referee in their match with France, Wayne Barnes of England.
The outpour has forced the International Rugby Board (IRB) to issue a statement in support for its referees and the notion of ‘fair play’.
It read: “The International Rugby Board (IRB) is responsible for the appointment of all match officials for matches between international countries, including matches for IRB Rugby World Cup 2007.
“The IRB believes the standard of refereeing is the highest it has ever been at a Rugby World Cup tournament. The criticism of referee Wayne Barnes following the France versus New Zealand quarter-final match on Saturday, 6 October is completely unwarranted.
“All the referees for the knock-out stages earned their appointments following outstanding performances in the pool stages. The selection process employed for the tournament is the one used for all international match appointments and consists of individual referee assessments, feedback from coaches and review by the IRB match official selection committee.
“Match officials are under immense pressure during major matches and it has to be recognised that at times certain incidents are missed. Match officials have to make decisions instantly and do not have the luxury of replays which are available to spectators and the media.
“The IRB stands behind the match official selection process, the referees and its Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien one hundred percent.”
Earlier Paddy O’Brien, the IRB’s manager of referees and an ardent New Zealander, had spoken out in support of Barnes, saying on Radio New Zealand that Wayne Barnes had a superb game earlier in the tournament when he refereed the Italy versus All Blacks match.
O’Brien went on to say: “He’s been one of the in-form referees, a couple of errors in the All Black game, but that is refereeing and part in parcel of the game – played by humans, refereed by humans.”
Even New Zealand’s prime minister asked her people not to blame the referee. She was at the quarter-final and then returned to New Zealand, saying: “I think we would like the All Blacks to have put in a strong enough performance for the refereeing – good or bad – not to have been an issue.”
Andre Watson, who refereed the last two World Cup Finals said: “I thought Barnes had a good game in difficult circumstances. There was one mistake which was there for all to see, but you can’t judge a referee on one mistake.”
The New Zealand Herald reports that Barnes will play no part in the rest of the World Cup as if he was being punished. None of the referees who refereed the quarter-finals were ever going to referee the semi-finals and the appointment of the final and 3rd/4th play-off were made bearing in mind the possible teams in those matches. England will play in either the final or the play-off, which eliminated Barnes from both.
