The case against Mr Wayne Barnes.

[BaggyTrousers]

This thread adequately demonstrates the ability of everyone to be largely correct & yet substantially wrong at the same time. Anyone who wishes a personal critique of their posts, feel free to ask either here or by PM for I aim to help those who cannot help themselves.

Lets look at one common error:

Barnes did not cost Ireland the game. On the face of it, it's a plain statement of fact he didn't throw an attacking lineout straight into Warburton's hands, neither did he kick poorly from outhalf, and he wasn't once tackled a foot short of the Welsh line. Neither did he keep the ball in the pack when a huge overlap beckoned. Ireland lost the game several times over off their own bat. They could have won that game several times over & squandered it through a variety of weaknesses, errors and limitations.

So that puts that to bed, doesn't it? Well actually no, it doesn't. He did allow the final scrum of the game to eat up 54 seconds before setting it and that is but one of the areas where he potentially contributed to the final result. His early penalty decision against Jack McGrath was farcical, I've seldom seen a man make a more concerted effort to disengage from a ruck. Not quite so harsh was his call against Paulie, but if you watch it, O'Connell had got perhaps two feet from the ball & Webb rolls the ball back against POC to give Barnes a decision to make, for my money he got it wrong though admittedly I am extremely biased.

I would also contend that he got several calls utterly wrong, both ways of course. I believe his performance was as poor as much of the Irish team were poor. That is clearly a one-sided YaChube video but there are substantial failings, from Barnes as much as by many of the Ireland team.

Should we expect a ref to be perfect in all decisions? Of course not, should we expect him to ref like incidents the same way? We should expect that but I don;t believe we saw that. Did he cheat? Of course not.

Is he a ref who very easily decides to ref according to how he perceives players talking to him? I believe that is Barnes's major weakness, most classically demonstrated back in Cardiff when reffing NZ V France, in Dublin ironically another Ireland Wales game when he contributed hugely to a Welsh win, with the penalty and card against Stevie Ferris. I believe Mr Barnes likes to be respected without question and if he doesn't get it, I believe he becomes punitive. That my dears is why he is a ballbeg of a ref and too often does play a significant part in deciding games, something that no ref should ever do. It's a lack of self control & it's unacceptable, but for him of course, there is no sanction.

For all someone will now say, "Ireland should know what he is like and act accordingly", that is as may be, there is truth in that, however it does not mean that Barnes isn't utterly wrong in reacting as he does and has been seen to do on many occasions.

Let's take an example of how he reacted when I positively delighted in his decision, Dylan feckin' Hartley. Now I would defy anyone to say with the remotest certainty that Hartley's cheat accusation was directed at Barnes. Hartley is a dumbass but really is he that stupid? I take leave to doubt it, Barnes leapt to offence so quickly he could have been a wee Ulsterman & off went Hartley. Classical Barnes, amusing at the time but just another example of him acting like a manic schoolteacher who will not be defied or disrespected. Chube.

[rumncoke]

That Barnes didn't cost Ireland the game is to overlook the fact that in his pursuit of a fast game he allows the attacking team free reign to firstly go off their feet and frequently in from the side it is because of the inconsistent and biased way the break down is refereed that I consider breakdown calls should be free kicks if committed outside the 22 .

Barnes by his approach gave Wales a 12 point lead in the first 15 minutes of the game .

The pressure chasing a game in such circumstances is immense and results frequently in players becoming yard hungry and over eager which leads to dropped passes etc .

The unfortunate thing about Barnes is he may be well intentioned by his disallowing teams to slow the game down by being over officious in the first 10 -15 minutes against the defending team but as seen in the YouTube in means he fails to fair and consistent over the course of the game .
In the first 15 minutes the Welsh were not once penalised for in at the side or over the top he was only watching the actions of the defending team .


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[Spiffsson]

You can analyse it up, down, sideways and all around the houses. The fact remains that Barns is an whistle-happy, egotistical bieber who has to be the centre of attention. Much of the time he has no clue of what's happening in the set scrum and maul and many of his decisions are totally unpredictable. I also do not like his matey-style running dialog with players. Refs should stand above that, keep some distance, and talk less. I am not saying he is the reason Ireland lost, but he sure can spoil a game, and I'd prefer not to see him perform again.

[Snipe Watson]

All top referees including the beloved Nige are egotistical. They don't get to the top unless they have delusions of infallibility. Who other than an egotist would want to be a referee and work their way up through the ranks, listening to crap being spouted by thick as champ idiots with no idea of the laws of the game, on the touchline? It's an impossible job and I have long been convinced that the job is beyond a normal individual. The answer is simple and it is greater involvement from the other officials including the TMO.

[rumncoke]

The answer lies in removing their ability to influence the result fewer penalties and more free kicks .


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[Alister Scott]

The answer lies in removing their ability to influence the result fewer penalties and more free kicks .

Now there's a thought!

Surprised you haven't mentioned it before.

[againstthehead]

Yeah. Scrum penalties are so harsh. Better to allow quick free kicks to be taken anywhere in scrum area. If anyone tackles in 10 m then penalty. Could be the end of the scrum though.

Lack of a contest at ruck time is killing the game IMHO. No one challenges anymore. Even the all Blacks tend to fan out rather than risk giving away a penalty. Contesting rucksk drags players in and gives space out wide.

[rumncoke]

But I have I have but all anyone sees is a slower game , they think players will infringe more may be maybe not but refs would blow it quicker and free kicks take less time than penalties .

Penalty - kick for touch and then the forwards talk for 2 3 minutes about the line before forming etc or the place kicker takes 5 minutes setting the ball and going through his pre kick routine step back bend the knees 3 times look at the posts - look at the ball look at the posts bend the knees 3 times slowly approach and kick the guy practices it for hours and every body is surprised it goes over .


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[BaggyTrousers]

And so began the long descent into purgatory as another thread became a repetition of the same old shyte.....................

[rumncoke]

It takes one to recognise it


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[rocky]

You can analyse it up, down, sideways and all around the houses. The fact remains that Barns is an whistle-happy, egotistical bieber who has to be the centre of attention. Much of the time he has no clue of what's happening in the set scrum and maul and many of his decisions are totally unpredictable. I also do not like his matey-style running dialog with players. Refs should stand above that, keep some distance, and talk less. I am not saying he is the reason Ireland lost, but he sure can spoil a game, and I'd prefer not to see him perform again.

Best post in this thread, Spiffers. I will take any referee in World rugby before Barnes and that includes Clancy, Joubert, Phillips, Lacey, Poite the Toite, even Smiling Steve Walsh. If Cables were still upright, I'm sure he would be able to quote Barne's stats as a ref for Ireland and all four provinces - I strongly suspect all five sides come out on the wrong side. And even If I'm wrong, I still don't like him. Even more of a Toite than Poite, if you ask me.

[BuckRogers]

I believe I read somewhere, though could be wrong that Ireland's win rate with Barnesy is around 35%.

[againstthehead]

Clancy ahead of Barnes? Fek

[Russ]

Clancy ahead of Barnes? Fek

Clancy tries to make the game close and encourages a controversial finish

Barnes just makes it all about him

[Dave]

Nigel uses reffing to test out his new catchphrases.