After all he supposedly shafted the ABS in 2007 ,if it was the saffas favourite Kiwi ref there would be death threats aplenty and farcebook campaigns, beandork would be in full whiny whinge mode and so on .
Could it be KIwis are over it and dont really give a sh!t about refs ? Are we setting a good example for Bok fans to emulate ?
Yup probably so.
Personally I think all that time being demoted has done Barnes some good and I dont have a problem with the dude.
By Hayden Donnell, Vaimoana Tapaleao
11:44 AM Monday Jul 30, 2012A referee selector for the 2007 Rugby World Cup has rubbished Sir Graham Henry's claims match-fixing was to blame for the All Blacks' shock quarter final defeat to France.
In a new book, Henry reveals his outrage at what he sees as mistakes and injustices leading to the All Blacks loss.
He told Radio Sport the team had been "sawn off" by English referee Wayne Barnes and other officials and admitted suspicions match fixing was involved.
The All Blacks were cheated out of victory, he said.
Bob Francis, a New Zealander who oversaw refereeing appointments for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, said those claims were "nonsense".
"They're extreme at the very least and in actual fact I believe they were nonsense and I think it brings into question his judgement at that time."
Francis admitted there were some poor refereeing decisions during the quarter final.
However, Henry's poor decisions on preparing and conditioning the All Blacks in the lead up to the cup were more to blame for the loss, he said.
"He needs to look at himself rather than switch the blame... the team played poorly that day. I think there were some refereeing decision that were questionable. But if you go back through the whole lead up from 12 months out from that world cup, there were a lot of mistakes made in the way they were conditioned and prepared. The chickens came home to roost that day."
British rugby writer Stephen Jones, a long-time critic of New Zealand rugby, tweeted yesterday that the comments were a "puke-making assault on Wayne Barnes by bitter Graham Henry".
Barnes was the English referee who controlled the quarter-final in Cardiff.
There was also criticism closer to home, sports broadcaster Murray Deaker saying Henry would "regret this" and that the statement was all to do with book sales.
"To bring it out now, after everything that rugby has done for him, I find it amazing."
Henry's comments would be badly received internationally, Deaker said.
"And what average fans overseas will say is, 'There's those New Zealanders whingeing again'. We had just gotten rid of that sort of title because we hosted that Rugby World Cup so well. So many people went out of their way to dispel the whole arrogance which has surrounded New Zealand rugby for so long.
"We went out of our way to make sure people had a good time, but we may as well not have done that - it will be forgotten," Deaker said.
Callers angry about Henry's claims flooded Deaker's phone-lines during his NewstalkZB show yesterday. One woman said they had left her with an "unpleasant taste in the back of the mouth".
After the 18-20 loss to France in Cardiff, Henry maintained his silence. He was even awarded an international fair-play trophy for his "exemplary attitude" after the shock defeat.
But in the book, he reveals how much he was seething.
He says he became physically sick after reviewing video of the match in his hotel room. He says Barnes missed 40 penalties.
Last night, he told TVNZ's Sunday programme: "The All Blacks didn't get a penalty for the last 60 minutes of the game ... and were on attack for 70 per cent of that time. Now that's impossible - but it wasn't impossible on that particular day.
"I asked the Rugby Union and the international board if there was any law or any system they used to look at bizarre games and look at the possibility of sports betting."
Asked if the officials were cheating or were incompetent, Henry said: "I guess that's why you have a system of analysing those things. If you had a system of analysing, maybe you would come to a result and I could answer that question."
Some in the rugby world have supported Henry's comments.
Former Springbok Joel Stransky told NewstalkZB the All Blacks received several tough calls from Barnes that day, and Paris-based sports journalist Ian Borthwick said the match statistics were bizarre.
"Suddenly France became the most disciplined team in the history of international rugby."
But both men queried the wisdom of making the comments so long after the event.
"I think there will be a lot of people saying it is sour grapes" said Stransky. "It's five years later and all of a sudden now all these allegations - why didn't you come with them before?"
Borthwick said it was disappointing to see that "negative feeling" revealed so long after the match took place.
There was firmer support from All Blacks great Sir Colin Meads, who told theHerald last night: "I know Graham Henry pretty well and he's hugely right up with the play and he'd be pretty sure with his facts."
Sir Colin, who was in the stands watching the match, said there were many times he became frustrated during it.
But he said: "The All Blacks were in a fair bit of disarray too - coming off with injuries and things left, right and centre. We let the French back into it.
"We've got to be honest and say we didn't play well, although there were things like that forward pass."
- Herald Online
Steve Leszczynski is the Australian TMO who tried to help the Rebels beat the Chiefs by scoring 2 blatant forward pass tries and disallowed a Chiefs last minute try even though the evidence was not as conclusive as the 2 blatant forward passes! The ref also allowed the Rebels forward pack to sack the scrum again and again without awarding a penalty try mmmmmmmm! This dangerous TMO should never be allowed to ref again! Hakwa pointing out the obvious again (you don't have to thank me Beeno!)
akwa
Redsman, "when the cheats dont win due to rigging referee outcomes" you mean like Wayne Barnes 2007 RWC and he was caught in a bar mimming to friends how he got rid of the ABs and he was also seen in the stands RWC 2011 jumping up and down with joy and fist air/pumping when France scored!
It's called envy and jealousy Redsman - maybe you should change your Avitar to Greensman!
It's a worry because this new trend for people with big opinions and little knowledge to be heard; to metaphorically yell until they feel validated, has the capacity to not just corrode the sport, but destroy it.
The art of losing or winning gracefully has been lost - not by the players but by whole fraternities. The All Blacks win and there is an inevitable post-mortem of why it was built on anything other than their superior skill-set. 'Richie McCaw's a cheat' is usually the most popular theme.The entire All Blacks side are cheats; referees favour them.
South Africa or England win and they are labelled boring, and if they score fewer tries than their opponent, a process begins of spinning the result into a moral victory on the basis that losing with some misguided notion of what constitutes style is better than winning with substance.
The French and Argentinians are dirty when they win, supposedly.
The Welsh and Irish are just plain lucky when they get it right.
The saddest development has been the victimisation of referees and the culture of blame. It all started in 2007, when many New Zealanders lost perspective about the performance of referee Wayne Barnes in the World Cup quarter-finals.
He was bad but so were the All Blacks. Barnes spent the days after that game holed up in a hotel, fearful what might happen to him if he stepped out.
Bryce Lawrence suffered just as badly at the next World Cup when he was accused of refereeing the Springboks to a defeat against the Wallabies.
Again, he didn't have his best game but how did it end up with people ringing him in the middle of the night to abuse him? How did things get so bad that Sanzar decided it wasn't safe to let him referee Super Rugby games in the Republic ?
Or what about Chris Pollock this year after the first Lions test? He penalised Brian O'Driscoll and fans reacted like he'd spat on the Queen. Now Romain Poite has been subjected to a tirade of abuse that gives the impression the Frenchman did not just make a mistake in a game, he ordered the chemical weapon attack in Syria.
The faceless and nameless have done too much damage and it's not confined to referees.
Every gigabyte was harnessed in 2010 to destroy the reputation of Stephen Donald.
Admittedly he had an abysmal 15 minutes in Hong Kong that handed the game to the Wallabies but less opprobrium has come the way of child murderers.
There were calls for Andrew Hore, after his nasty challenge in Cardiff, to be banned for life or sent to jail. One bloke, nicely dressed, posh accent, a week later in a hotel lift in London, even screamed in the face of the then All Black doctor that the team was a disgrace and Hore should be deported.
The internet has created a vehicle for aspiring Pieter van Zyls, the fan who made it on to the field in Durban 11 years ago and attacked referee David McHugh. There's no need to front now and be named and shamed; refs can be destroyed anonymously from the safety of the living room.
Opinions don't need to be measured and respectful because there are virtual fan communities where people don't have to be mindful of social norms. Is rugby's future one where there will be empty stadiums - just millions of twisted, spiteful trolls watching through the ether, dripping their poison into their digital device of choice?Who will soon bother paying for a ticket when there is no postmatch meeting of minds? When there is no convivial banter with opposition fans? Just the isolated and insular, fingers furiously tapping out their righteous indignation.
There probably won't be any referees left anyway - none willing to take the inevitable savaging when, shock, horror, theymake a mistake.
It's not obvious how rugby can restore its sense of community. A generation are growing up barely cognisant the game has a rich social history that for many has been the main attraction. The French call it 'the third half' - a half they have excelled in since time immemorial.
The only hope is amid the cacophony coming from the empty heads, the dignified silence of the players can be heard. Despite the escalating violence, the players at least have retained the art of leaving everything on the field. They know how to forgive and forget and the South Africans especially gave the perfect example of how to respond to controversy and disappointment.
"The one thing we mustn't look past is that this is a quality New Zealand team," said Springbok captain Jean de Villiers. "They were the better team. They played better than us. And we need to take a hard look at ourselves and the way we perform because that was certainly not a performance that was good enough.
"The management and coaching staff did everything they could to prepare us for this game. But this performance was 100 per cent the fault toward the players and myself as captain. We need to take the fault for that. It's very disappointing. We let our country down tonight."
A few fans need to think about what he said, because they are letting their country down way more than the players could.
Trolls cry foul outside the hall of shame
October 2007
New Zealand lose their World Cup quarter-final 20-18 to France - a game in which referee Wayne Barnes is accused of missing a blatant forward pass that led to a critical try by the hosts and as many as 40 potential penalty infringements.The nation was caustic - 55 per cent blaming him for the defeat in aTV3 online poll and the internet clogged with angry bloggers.
This is from one called www.iamjohnnyking.com: "Simply put he stuffed up. Yes I am sure you all know who I am referencing here, the pasty and not very tasty English referee Wayne Barnes. It is my contention that this man so abused his position as sole arbiter, that any sense of talking about the All Blacks 'choking' is lost."
October 2010
The
All Blacks lose their 10-game unbeaten record against the Wallabies in
Hong Kong after leading 24-14 with 20 minutes to go. Stephen Donald came
on for Daniel Carter and had a nightmare: his worst mistake was his
failure to kick the ball out in the last seconds which allowed Australia
to snatch a dramatic late win. He was vilified in away never previously
seen. (Didn't that happen to someone else in a green jersey not too long ago as well, on might ask?)
This from someone called crazysmurf: "If Carter had stayed on the ABs would've taken it by probably 20 or so points. As for blaming the loss on one person, I think it's pretty fair considering how completely f*****g s**t Stephen Donald is. Every time he touched the ball in the match it turned to s**t.
"DID YOU EVEN SEE THE F*****G RETARD DONALD CLAP AFTER THE TURNOVER.This idiot thought great we have the ball, we're gonna win. WHAT DOES THIS IDIOT DO?
"Stephen Donald kicks the f*****g ball to the opposition's fullback because Stephen Donald doesn't have a f*****g clue. But what I am grateful for is that he will never see a black jersey ever again."
October 2011
Australia beat South Africa in their World Cup quarter-final and captain John Smit blames referee Bryce Lawrence. A Facebook page is created for people to petition the IRB to stop Lawrence from refereeing. Sanzar decided last year that they had no choice but to not schedule him for Super Rugby games in South Africa.
This from the Facebook page 'stop Bryce Lawrence ever reffing a game again': "This man is a blatant cheat and should never be allowed to ref a game again. . . this is a petition to IRB to strip him of his ability to ref any professional rugby game again. . . yes we are calling foul play.
"Bryce Lawrence has proved over and over that he is incompetent of reffing a game of rugby at a professional level. We are calling for a vote of no confidence in his ability to perform his duties correctly.
Too many important games have been completely botched by Bryce Lawrence's inability and complete mockery of the game. He is a disgrace to the integrity of the sport and should no longer be able to control any game of rugby."
November 2012
Andrew Hore clobbers lock Bradley Davies from behind in the first minute of the All Blacks test against Wales in Cardiff. The officials missed it and while Hore stayed on, he was later banned for five weeks.
Blogger Scott Jordan Harris had this published by The Daily Telegraph in London: "The New Zealand Rugby Union now has an opportunity to show itself to be the world-leading authority it ought to be. It should, immediately and unilaterally, hold an inquiry and, if necessary, ban Andrew Hore from ever again wearing the All Black jersey."
September 2013
Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis is wrongly shown a yellow card for a thunderous, legal tackle on Daniel Carterand is then sent off after receiving a second yellow.
His first card was officially withdrawn by a judicial hearing and therefore the red rescinded as well.
Within minutes, there were 40,000 signed up to the Facebook page, that was devoted - based on the one used to remove Lawrence - to petitioning against French official Romain Poite.
The Frenchman hasn't spoken publicly since the game but he will be aware that the anti-Lawrence page ended up with 76,000 likes, a factor which was instrumental in him deciding to retire last year.
"It got pretty bad," Lawrence said. "Not really threats to my family as such, but it was mainly aimed at me through social media.
On Facebook they launched a 'get rid of Bryce Lawrence' site and it was pretty nasty. That was absolutely the reason for my career change."
Can't believe some of you are giving Sir Graham a hard time for trying to up the sales of his book. To sell a book you have to include a few nutty, nit-wit statements.
Using that criteria a few posters on this site must be millionaires by now - Moz of course is a multi-millionaire
