But there are some points he makes that I’d challenge and a revelation about World Rugby.
No, there wasn’t just one mistake
For some time now, Barnes has admitted he missed a blatant forward pass in the Yannick Jauzion try that took the French into the 20-18 lead they held to the final whistle.
In his book, Barnes is critical of comments in Richie McCaw’s 2015 autobiography. “McCaw said I’d been ‘frozen with fear’ and ‘wouldn’t make any big calls’ because I was so inexperienced,” Barnes writes. “Besides the forward pass, I’m not sure what ‘big calls’ he thought I should have made.”
We don’t have room here to list the big calls McCaw might have been referring to.
But here are some facts.
In the second half in Cardiff, Barnes didn’t award a single penalty against France.
When All Blacks coach Graham Henry was reappointed, ahead of a challenge from Robbie Deans, a key element was a video presented to the NZRU board by assistant coach Wayne Smith.
“In the second half,” board member Mike Eagle would tell me, “Wayne told us the French actually should have been penalised 20 times. When the All Blacks were hammering down in the corner, Wayne was going, ‘Bang, look at that guy, bang, look at that guy, bang, look at that guy.’ The French were offside over and over again. They weren’t penalised once.”
It wasn’t just the All Blacks being critical
The NZRU’s high-performance referees’ coach, Colin Hawke, was asked by the union to review the match.
He reported that 16 penalties were not given against France that should have been. Hawke, of course, is a Kiwi. But even allowing for that huge caveat, Hawke, without the emotional involvement of Smith, Henry or McCaw, basically agreed with their summation of how Barnes missed so much in the game.
In passing, there were no tears
I was in the room and can swear that Richie McCaw did not break down in tears at the post-match media conference in Cardiff.
The reality? McCaw recalled in his book how, as he used both hands to wipe sweat from his face, he felt “heat and light as the flashbulbs pop. Bugger. I’ve just given them their front-page photo”.
Sadly, it makes sense
Barnes believes World Rugby got one important thing right at the 2023 World Cup in France by refusing to comment on individual refereeing performances or decisions. “A promise before the tournament from the people there to protect us,” he wrote.
At first glance, the idea that professional players (think Sam Cane’s red card in the final) are exposed to the full glare of television replays, public punishment and detailed revelations of judicial committee hearings, while a professional referee who makes mistakes remains anonymous, seems wildly unjust.
In a perfect world, players and match officials would be on a level public playing field when it came to airing dirty linen.
The harsh reality, as Barnes and his wife Polly have pointed out, is that referees are much more likely to attract lunatic fringe abusers.
Players and coaches aren’t immune from vicious feedback.
But I’ve never heard of one having a partner or family threatened with physical assault by an unbalanced fan, as Barnes’ wife was.
At World Cup level, if there’s punishment for poor refereeing, perhaps the effects should be contained to missing big appointments in the future, rather than opening up a player to online, and possibly real world, menaces.
