O'Brien leaps to Barnes' defence
PA Sport
October 9, 2007

Wayne Barnes has been defended by referees' chief Paddy O'Brien amid fierce criticism of his performance in the quarter-final between France and New Zealand.

All Blacks fans were left infuriated by some of Barnes' decisions, which included the sin-binning of Kiwi centre Luke McAlister and his failure to spot at least one forward pass in the build-up to Yannick Jauzion's crucial second try for the French in their shock 20-18 win in Cardiff.

The International Rugby Board have not chosen Barnes for any of the remaining games in the tournament, and he is reported to have received death threats from
disgruntled New Zealand fans in the wake of the match.

But the IRB's referees' manager O'Brien, himself a Kiwi, has insisted the flak being aimed at Barnes is unjustified.

``I think it's a disgrace and people have to grow up,'' he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

``New Zealand losing that game was not all about the forward pass. The pass was forward but that's rugby refereeing.

``I thought the referee actually had a decent game. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you can't turn back the clock.''

O Brien added: ``He's a superb referee and we have a lot of confidence in him, that's why we gave him the quarter-final.

``He's an outstanding individual as a person and it makes me sick to the stomach to hear some of the comments that have been made about him.''

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