Barnes wrong, but.....

Paddy O'Brien, the International Rugby Board's manager, has admitted that match officials made mistakes when France beat New Zealand in the World Cup quarter-final and that those mistakes were tough on New Zealand but continues to claim that the did not "cost" new Zealand the match.

In what may be a transparency first in the world of refereeing, O'Brien said that steps had been taken against the match officials concerned.

Associated Press reports that O'Brien had reviewed the performance of the referee, Wayne Barnes of England, and the touch judges, Jonathan Kaplan of South Africa and Tony Spreadbury of England in a match which France won 20-18, the winning score coming from an obviously forward pass.

The officiating caused an uproar in New Zealand.

In an interview with New Zealand Radio Sport on Wednesday, O'Brien said: "Wayne's game's been (reviewed) by all four selectors and myself, probably under more scrutiny than any other game due to the interest in it. The result is that there were errors made.

"There was a scrum turnover not given in the first half that should have been. There was clearly the forward pass that was missed by all three officials and, at the end of the day, with Wayne being the referee he must take responsibility for that.

"There were two calls, one with a hand in the ruck and one with offside at a ruck in the last 10 minutes which the touch judge should have given him.

"We've certainly reviewed the touch judges' performance and that's been reflected in our appointments for the third-fourth playoff and the final. Both of those touch judges have missed out."

O'Brien said: "I think there were a lot of factors involved in New Zealand not winning that game and one of them was some issues with refereeing and touch judging and we've always said that but to blame him for the loss is completely wrong."

Much has been made of Barnes's relative inexperience for a 28-year-old. O'Brien said Barnes would be considered for appointment to matches in New Zealand, though threats had been made against him by angry All Blacks fans.

He said: "Wayne is going to be on the international scene for some time and he will definitely be in New Zealand within the next couple of years. Wayne ... is a world-class referee and he will be appointed to any match that we think he can referee."

*There was also much criticism of the officiating in the quarter-final match between South Africa and Fiji in which there were many high tackles. None of the match officials in that match have been appointed to the last two matches either.

This may well lead the IRB to reconsider its decision to send home the 16 referees designated and trained as touch judges and TMOs and to leave those tasks with the 12 originally appointed as referees, whose focus has been on refereeing.