Rugby referee autobiography of a face

How ironic that when Wayne Barnes, future referee extraordinaire, was a player in his student days, his main role in the team was to cheat.

As a “non-tackling back-row” for University of East Anglia, Barnes was part of a move that involved him holding the opposition flanker’s shirt to engineer space for a blind-side attack.

He made the RFU’s National Panel without doing any referee courses, endorsing his belief that there’s no better way to learn than on the job.

He was a fish out of water when given his first Premiership match: Bath v Rotherham in 2003.

Raised in a working-class family, his upbringing instilled in him discipline and humility — qualities that later defined his refereeing career. He was 28 at the time.

As we all know, he and his assistants missed a slight forward pass in the build-up to France’s winning try – one of those short passes that so many officials don’t spot.

A real character, some of his famous put-downs whilst lecturing players, such as 'This is Not Soccer', have become huge social media hits.

The best rugby referee of his generation, Nigel also has an incredible back story to tell. When he tried it against Crusaders in the Norfolk Plate final, he received a punch in the face for his impertinence.

Barnes recalls the incident in Throwing the Book, the excellent autobiography that marked his retirement last November as arguably the best referee the sport has seen.

It received praise for its honesty and reflection on resilience, ethics, and emotional strength.

He is also a sought-after public speaker, frequently invited to conferences to discuss leadership, resilience, and high-pressure decision-making — skills honed from years in both sport and law.

Recent Developments and RFU Role

Following his retirement in late 2023, Wayne Barnes joined the Rugby Football Union (RFU) Board in 2024.

Barnes came close to suing Graham Henry for libel for suggesting match-fixing might have been at play, an utterly absurd slur.

Barnes almost quit the sport but was talked out of it by Nigel Yates, his coach. Forward-wind a decade and Rassie Erasmus was similarly irresponsible when posting inflammatory videos on social media, criticising Barnes’s decisions in the France v South Africa match in Marseille.

Why not spin that around and mark them down for stopping a game unnecessarily?

“Refereeing at World Rugby needs a total overhaul, a clear philosophy and a coaching structure, so that all its match officials know what’s expected of them,” he concludes.

Some people still think Barnes is a posh rugger bloke from the Home Counties.

He took charge of a world record 111 Tests, the last of them the 2023 World Cup final, along with 272 English Premiership matches, including a record ten finals.

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His book is the full package, amusing anecdotes complementing constructive criticism and some punchy opinions on referee bosses.

In 2005 at the U21 World Cup in Mendoza, he was pushed by Steve Griffiths, then World Rugby’s Referee Manager, to give his honest opinion on a directive to penalise attackers standing in front of the ball at the ruck.

His dad drove lorries, his mum worked at the snooker club, his brother was expelled from school for throwing a desk at the deputy head.

Barnes began refereeing at the age of 15, as a way to stay involved while he recovered from an injury. All whilst trying not to be sick following a huge night celebrating landing a tenancy at a London legal chambers.

In fact, Barnes’s ‘other job’, as a barrister, has often been forgotten down the years.

Barnes felt they had no effect on play and said so – and found himself refereeing the most lowly-ranked games for the rest of the tournament.

He was axed from the 2009 Six Nations for using first names when talking to players (although ended up doing the Wales-Ireland Grand Slam game after Steve Walsh was injured) and remarkably was still being reminded not to use first names last year!

He was also dropped from the 2012 Six Nations because he wasn’t penalising the attack enough at the breakdown.

He expected a straightforward home win but in the event had a big punch-up, a streaker and an ambulance on the pitch to contend with. This could be the hobby for me, he thought.

He refereed about 100 matches in his first season, and ran touch 100 times too.