BC Referee Saro Turner Reviews Wayne Barnes Book: Throwing The Book: The Strife and Crimes of a RUGBY Referee
Wayne Barnes refereed more international tests than anyone else in the history of rugby, including at five Men’s World Cups where he held the whistle in the 2023 Final. His autobiography – Throwing the Book: The Strife and Crimes of a RUGBY Referee – is particularly relevant for understanding the psychological pressure on referees, the values and integrity of the game, and his insight into how the game ought to be played.
The first several chapters chronicle Barnes’ life growing up in rural England, near Wales. He grew up blue collar, struggled to pay his way through university though was fortunate to earn some scholarships, studied law at a second-tier University and worked as a criminal defence lawyer outside his professional rugby referee career. In describing his playing career that ended after University, showing his self-deprecating sense of humour, Barnes describes himself as a non-tackling back row who suffered from a severe lack of talent.
A short few years after taking up refereeing full-time, in meteoric fashion, while still only in his late-20s, Barnes was selected to the 2007 World Cup where he was given, regrettably in hindsight, the quarter-final between New Zealand v France. In that game, he missed a French forward pass that led to a try, as in those days TMO did not come in on possible forward pass. The All Blacks lost the game by a small margin and the Kiwi media, pundits and rugby community blamed Barnes for the loss. Hostility toward Barnes was so vile that in a popular Kiwi Bar in Queenstown there was a statue of Barnes placed in the large, open urinal in the bathroom with a sign overtop saying the three most wanted men in NZ were Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Wayne Barnes. Then AB coach Graham Henry, in his own 2012 autobiography, commented that Barnes may have been involved in match-fixing. Famous AB Captain Richie McCaw, in his own autobiography, called Barnes “frozen with fear” during that test. Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Arden visited Barnes following a match in NZ in 2018 in what Barnes interpreted as the Prime Minister signaling to her public that it was well past time to move beyond the bitterness the Kiwis felt toward him. Readers may imagine the psychological torment Barnes must have endured over time as the Coach, legendary Captain, and public of the world’s most iconic rugby team slag you so badly, including creating a statue famous for pissing on your image, that the country’s Prime Minister feels the need to apologize 11 years later!
Barnes chronicles another example of major psychological pressure, one where the values & integrity of the game fall squarely on the referee, in the chapter Cheatgate. During the 2013 English Premiership Final, after Barnes awarded a critical penalty at the scrum at the end of the first half, Northampton Saints Hooker and Captain Dylan Hartley promptly called Barnes a “fucking cheat”. In response, Barnes gave Hartley a red card, which also led to a three-match ban that caused Hartley to miss the British & Irish Lions tour set to start the following week. Barnes reflects that had he not shown Harley that red card, then it would have given the green light for players, coaches and fans at every level to abuse referees. But that day, as he head down the tunnel at half time to the change room, a dignitary from Northampton came up to him shouting “I can’t believe what you’ve done!”. How about reflecting on what Harley had done? That didn’t seem to be the focus of too many in the rugby community. Barnes notes that the referee does not head but, punch, scream or shout at anyone, yet at times the referee is the one who gets accused of ruining games.
Another example of setting a tone that trickles down to the grassroots is when South African Coach Rassie Erasmus posted a series of videos on social media criticizing Barnes’ performance in 2022. Barnes’ point is that it’s reasonable to make a point about how a referee performed in a game, and for coaches to give and solicit feedback from the referees, but stakeholders need to understand that rugby is a chaotic game, played at tremendous speed, so referees are going to get things wrong. Barnes candidly admits that he gets something wrong in every single game. Keen observers may recall that Barnes admitted in real-time during the 2023 World Cup Final that he got a no-release penalty wrong against All Black #8 Ardie Savea, a decision that is not reviewable by the TMO though the entire stadium could see the replay on the big screen, and in turn the Springboks promptly kicked a 3-point penalty goal and then went on to win the World Cup Final by 1 point. Did Rassie Erasmus take to the public airwaves to slam Barnes for that call? When a leading coach publicly criticizes the refereeing without qualification, this trickles down and leads to referee abuse at the lower levels, not to mention serious social media abuse, including death threats, to the top referees in the world. The takeaway is that Coaches ought to exercise restraint in their criticism of referees. Disagreement is fine, including publicly, but it ought to be expressed in such a way that upholds the integrity of the game and acknowledges the complexity and difficulty of the role of referee.
Perhaps to the surprise of some, Barnes does not agree that rugby is a morally superior game to soccer. Because, notwithstanding rugby’s focus on its so called “values” and “integrity”, as soon as games get tight and stakeholders feel pressure, the sport’s reaction is to start slagging off the refs. Conduct unbecoming of the sport is foisted onto the shoulders of the referee team, who in turn may be seen as the bad guys if they decline to tolerate unbecoming conduct. As an example, in the lead up to the 2023 World Cup, Irish Captain Johnny Sexton, injured and not-playing during his Club team Leinster’s Championship Final, went on to the field after his team lost and swore & yelled at South African Referee Jaco Peyper. But Peyper wasn’t prepared to put his name to any statements (quoting Sexton’s abusive conduct) because he didn’t feel that European Rugby would protect him. The attitude from Administrative Bodies toward the Referee Team was “do you want to make a report?”, which is to say in other words: do you want to be responsible for getting the Irish Captain banned from the World Cup? The answer is of course not. It should not be on the Referee to press such a point in opposition to abusive conduct of this ilk. The integrity of the game requires better from all stakeholders.
In the chapter Skippers, Barnes says the most effective captains are those that are respectful, polite, and in particular those that ask probing questions in a non-confrontational manner. Since referees are human, those captains will get the benefit of a fifty-fifty decision here and there. Conversely, for the captain who yells and barks at the referee all game, his team will get punished with a fifty-fifty decision or two going against. It’s not intentional, it’s subconscious. Bottom line is referees are emotional, and we make emotional decisions. Be a good guy to us, and without intent on the referee’s part, you’ll get rewarded. Scream and shout at us, again without any intent on the referee’s part, you’ll get punished.
One thing an effective referee can do is take the time before the game to talk to coaches and key players about any specific aspects of the game that may be important for that day. This establishes that human connection. It can allow the referee to understand potential pictures that may present themselves during the game, which may clarify expected outcomes. It can establish that two-way communication, before the game, so there is common understanding on the standard that will be applied. The lesson here for referees is go introduce yourself to the coach and team leaders well before the game, be polite, be open to communication, don’t come across as judicious. Be approachable.
In the same vein, Barnes records examples where a hostile coach, that is pre-game, appears to have an adverse, trickle down effect on his own players. Angry coaches who appear to dislike the referee pre-game sometimes leads to angry players with an “everyone is against us” attitude. Well, that conduct leads to those Hartley-type referee abuse scenarios, and what does the referee do to react when confronted with negative behaviour? They punish. They punish, even when they are wrong and out of their depth, because they are human. The takeaway is that coaches who want a low penalty count are well-advised to foster, and certainly to return, pre-game pleasantries and should instruct their players to always treat the referee with respect, even when he or she may clearly be wrong with a particular decision. The best referee in the world makes mistakes in every game. Telling that third division rugby referee in the local Darby what one really thinks about their bad decision will only make it harder on one’s own team, and it may also lead to an even worse referee the week following when that guy with the whistle taking all this abuse snaps to his senses by quitting.
In the chapter Complex Law, Barnes gives his take on various aspects of the game as it ought to be played. For example, there can be head contact without a penalty where common sense dictates. Namely, if a defending player is doing everything legal, ie: he is bent at the knees and hips, but the ball-carrier also dips down low, then there’s nothing to penalize even if the ball carrier is injured from high force head contact. A defensive player needs to have done something wrong in order for there to be a penalty. Further, while lamenting that there is no overriding philosophy on how rugby referees ought to referee the game, for Barnes, his philosophy is simply to keep the momentum of a game going. That means quick scrums, quick box-kicks from scrum halves, allow the game to flow with minimal stoppages and maximum ball in time play. In short, don’t blow your whistle unless you really have to. Keep the game going. The crooked feed by the #9 at the scrum is an example of a law that should be ignored because it leads to too many stoppages. Interestingly, Barnes is in favour of attack and defence being treated differently. That is, the referee should be more lenient on the attack because people want to see attacking matches so give the attack the benefit of any doubt.
In 2022, security had to escort Barnes out of the stadium after a Champions Cup Final in Toulouse after Barnes had to red card a Toulouse player just 10 minutes into the game. Toulouse went on to lose. Former All Black Jerome Kaino, who was with the Toulouse coaching staff, later asked Barnes “why the hell do you do this?” Barnes replied, “I ask myself that a lot”. In the present author’s view, the real reason Barnes and others do so is because the rugby referee has an opportunity to enhance the quality of rugby, whether one finds oneself at the top of the highest mountains or in the lowest valleys of the sport. Good refereeing is more art than science. It’s more about feel for the game and understanding what the players are trying to achieve, less about the nuance and technicalities of what the laws actually say. As Barnes notes, rugby teaches one how to look after one’s mates, whether that’s on-or-off the field. It instills resilience and teaches the importance of discipline, whether that’s turning up on time for the events of life or choosing not to punch an opponent. Through rugby, one learns empathy, tolerance, and all sorts of people skills. Cheers to Wayne Barnes for setting the standard for the rugby referees to follow, and indeed for the whole rugby community.
Saro Turner has refereed full-time in the B.C. Rugby Union in all seasons since 2008. His former playing career may also be described as non-tackling and suffering from a lack of talent.