Wayne Barnes - lawyer and referee

Off to Rome

Wayne Barnes of England will blow his whistle at Stade Flaminio in Rome and the 2007 Six Nations will come to life, for he is the referee and this is the first match of the 2006 Six Nations. Recently, Wayne became England's youngest full-time referee, and clearly a referee going places.

In fact he has already been to many parts of the world, his whistle taking him to many places that his erstwhile profession would not have taken him, not yet anyway.

Wayne Barnes was born in Gloucestershire on 20 April 1979. He was educated at Whitecross School in Lydeny, a co-educational, non-denominational school where he was head pupil, and then, just over the border, at Monmouth School for 6th Form. From there he went to University of East Anglia to study law, before moving to London to undertake Barrister Training. His big interest is criminal law.

Why abandon law for refereeing? "It was inevitable because of the financial situation. I was taking a great deal of time off from my work as a criminal law barrister, and being self-employed, something had to give."

Like Steve Walsh of New Zealand and Craig Joubert of South Africa, Barnes started refereeing as a teenager. He may be only 27 now but he has 12 years of experience behind him. He says of his start: "Following an injury at 15, a school teacher asked me to referee some house matches. Then I joined the local society as a friend of my father was also a local referee. I enjoyed it and so continued from there."

His first match - at the age of 15 - was Bream III vs Berry Hill Wappers. On his career he says: "I learnt my 'trade' in Gloucestershire which gave me a sound grounding."

Barnes had played for Bream RFC in the Forest of Dean from Under-8 and then after school for his university's 1st XV, playing on Wednesday and refereeing on Saturday. He first joined the Gloucestershire Referees' Society, then, while at university in Norfolk, the Eastern Counties Society and then after that the great London Referees' Society "where I still try and referee as often as possible".

In 2001, aged 21, Barnes was the youngest member of England's Panel of National Referees. His first international appointment was as referee’s assistant in Russia in the winter of 2002. He was a referee in the Under-19 World Cup in Paris in 2003 and at the Under-21 World Cup in Argentina in July of 2005. He refereed first Premiership match in October 2003 and his  first Heineken Cup match on 2005.

From December 2003 to March 2005 Barnes represented England on the IRB Sevens circuit, travelling to Dubai, Wellington, Los Angeles and Singapore. His Sevens refereeing culminated in Hong Kong in March 2005, where he refereed the semi-final of the Sevens World Cup.

In April 2005 Barnes became a full-time English referee, joining Chris White, Tony Spreadbury and Dave Pearson in the RFU Performance Department’s Elite Referee Unit.

In 2006 he was selected to the IRB's merit panel of 21 referees. He has refereed Tests in Japan, Fiji and Romania.

Asked about the highlights in his career, Barnes says: "The first Premiership match is always a highlight for any referee. But in addition to that the Rugby World Cup Sevens semi-final in Hong Kong in 2005. The Varsity Match in 2004 was very special and a great privilege to referee. Fiji vs Samoa was a unique experience. The week leading up to the Test, the atmosphere within the stadium and the game itself were unforgettable. My first run out at the Millennium Stadium [in November] is one I enjoyed, too."

Who helped him along the way?

"The refereeing fraternity is full of people willing to help and assist in developing other referees and so throughout my career, particularly as I was young enough to be a lot of the referees' son, help was never short in coming and to name them all would be impossible and I'd forget to mention one or two and that would be unfair. But, in Gloucester, a local referee, Colin Edmunds, coached me for the majority of my three years and the Regional Referee Trainer, Andy Melrose, also spent a lot of time developing my refereeing.

"Whilst at University Paul Storey and Dave Broadwell [the South West Referee Development Officer] helped me a lot, along with my peers on the South East Region [those aspiring to make the National Panel]. Jon Curry, and other members of the North Walsham RFC coaching side, also improved my understanding of the game, particularly the front row.

"Once on the National Panel, Geraint Davis [an ex 1st class referee and now a referee coach] progressed my refereeing immensely. But my biggest influence was and still is Nigel Yates, an ex-Sale player and Premiership referee who became my coach just before I started refereeing in the Premiership. He is also a lawyer by trade, we have a similar sense of humour and we share similar philosophies on the game and how it should be refereed. He changed the way I thought about refereeing more than anyone else.

"Today, Brian Campsall plays an important role in my development, along with his sidekick Ed Morrison. Working with Chris White, Tony Spreadbury and Dave Pearson over the last 18 months has also helped my career immensely."

Role models?

"Chris and Tony I respect and admire massively, though they are two totally different referees. For me they are two of the best in the world. What Ed Morrison did for refereeing, and still does, is something that can only be admired. I'm a big fan of an Australian referee called Greg Hinton, who didn't quite make International rugby, but did referee the Lions back in 2001. Also, I like the style of the two new South African referees on the IRB list, Craig Joubert and Marius Jonker. And of course my IRB boss, Paddy O'Brien!"

His refereeing aim?

"If I can referee a game where no-one mentions me afterwards and people are talking only about the rugby, then I've done a good job."