Steve Walsh has courted controversy throughout his refereeing career. Photo / Getty
Referee Steve Walsh has long been a controversial figure on the biggest stage. Ahead of his retirement, here are his top five controversies from the man with "He who controls himself controls the game" tattooed on his left arm:
5. Leaves England incandescent with rage after continually penalising
their scrum in a Six Nations defeat to Wales in 2013. "After most games I've submitted glowing reports on referees but on this occasion we were frustrated," forwards coach Graham Rowntree said. "A lot of those decisions were big momentum-changing decisions."
4. Matt Giteau is fined more than $6000 for suggesting the Brumbies might as well not turn up for their next game under Walsh after a controversial loss to the Waratahs in 2010. Walsh, who had several run-ins with Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles, later admitted he got a few things wrong. Ref boss Lyndon Bray said: "The bottom line is Steve had an average night at the office." He was given the next week off.
3. Banned for three days for an incident in a 2003 World Cup match between England and Samoa following a touchline row with England trainer Dave Reddin (Walsh squirts water from a bottle at him) after Clive Woodward's side ended up with 16 men on the field.
2. Stood down by his New Zealand Rugby employers in 2009 after turning up drunk to a Sanzar conference in Sydney. He admitted later that he had gone out with friends the night before, adding: "I did something that was completely unacceptable, and pretty much drunk through the night and arrived at the conference for a 9 o'clock start and was definitely under the influence of alcohol," said Walsh. "I was asked to leave, which I did, and pretty much as a consequence of that and me owning up to my mistakes, the rugby union weren't prepared to give me another chance. The upshot is I'm finished refereeing in New Zealand."
