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Referees confirmed for World Cup final and bronze final
By Josh Raisey
Wayne Barnes is set to take charge of his first ever World Cup final on Saturday as the reigning champions South Africa face the All Blacks at the Stade de France.
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The Englishman is the most capped referee in the history of Test rugby having been the man in the middle for 110 Tests. He will be joined by compatriots Karl Dickson and Matthew Carley as his assistant referees, while Tom Foley will serve as the Television Match Official.
Nic Berry is set to take charge of the bronze final between England and Argentina the night before, and will make up an officiating team alongside Georgia’s Nika Amashukeli and Ireland’s Andrew Brace as assistant referees, with Wales’ Ben Whitehouse as TMO.
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World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “On behalf of World Rugby, I would like to congratulate Wayne Barnes on his deserved appointment as the Rugby World Cup 2023 final referee. Such an appointment is a reflection of Wayne’s calibre, not just at this tournament but over a distinguished career.
“It is a result of his devotion to the game, the support of his family and the spirit of collaboration and excellence that exists across our entire match official team. We wish him and Nic Berry well this weekend.”
RFU CEO Bill Sweeney said: “Congratulations to the match official team. We are so pleased that Wayne will referee his first final alongside Karl, Matthew, Tom and Luke. It is the first time in world cup history that all the officials have been appointed from one union and it speaks volumes for the quality of English officials and this group who work so brilliantly alongside one another. All of our officials who have played a part in this tournament can be very proud of the contribution they have made to its success, and we look forward to congratulating them in person on their return home.”
World Rugby High Performance 15s Match Official Manager Joël Jutge added: “Wayne’s ability to read and understand the game is second to none. He also embodies the passion, professionalism and dedication that is at the heart of a superb team of match officials at this Rugby World Cup.
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“While an individual ultimately has the accolade of refereeing the final, it is the team of 26 officials who have all played their part in this moment. I would also like to congratulate Karl, Matthew and Tom on their appointments to the final as well as Nic, Nika, Andrew and Ben on their bronze final appointments.”
Wayne Barnes really!? he is alright in my opinion to be honest but its just that last game with the all blacks and Ireland he ignored a lot of the things Andrew Porter should have been called for
Having two SH Teams in the final will make it more bearable to watch on ITV as the commentators can be one sided at times when it’s a NH team we’re playing. No slow motion replays milking cards, encouraging the booing crowds and referees. History shows both are deserved of a win in their own right and congratulations to whoever it will be.
Shame ITV don’t get the NZ commentary. By far the best rugby commentators going around.
They should have given the job the Nic Berry, one of the best and fairest referees going around.
Carley?!?! That is a shocker. Stuffed Fiji and gets rewarded.
And an all-English group? That’s a bad look.
Felt that Amashukeli should have gotten AR2. AR1 could have been Brace or Dickson.
Congrats to Barnes, congrats to Dickson, both deserving. And while we can’t have Brendan Pickerill as TMO (Kiwi), at least we’re not suffering with Jonker.
Agree. Barnes is fantastic. Carley being rewarded is disgraceful.
Barnes means more ball in play. It was 39 minutes ABs vs Ireland. Barnes will penalise sides with over enthusiastic water boys delivering coaching, especially after Ben raised it during England/Boks semi. Doesn’t tolerate front rows who don’t push straight and bore in or pull out the crab to try to gain kickable penalties. So more rugby and likely to be more tries.
And he’ll insist on the front rows ‘keeping it high’ to avoid collapsing scrums, therefore having fewer resets
A tiresome and ridiculous comment
Just need WB to ensure that the Springboks don’t time waste at the set pieces. “We. Play. Now”.
Hey PJSingh get of the bandwagon and rewatch the last encounter between these two teams. You might be surprised as to who tried to slow the game down when they were under pressure.
Agree 100 %
Great that’s sorted can’t wait for the final , doesn’t matter who ref is there's three so up to finalist , in approx 83minutes we will have a result.
Ireland , France , England blamed the refs , this is common from sore losing Northern Hemisphere teams , they were not good enough to WIN this was not helped by media , rugbypass , and one eyed commentators playing the game before it started making BS calls how either Ireland France would be rwc 2023 champions .
Cut and paste to the final as expected three Southern Hemisphere teams , I expected four but Fiji came up short.
Four years big mouth Peter O Mahony , As for Sexton another big mouth prick who passed hospital passes all day as he didn’t have the balls to take it up.
Uk and Irish media call it disrespectful one eyed pricks , when they do it nothing said so good riddance from the final to retirement.
Ka mate
Ka mate
How does Wayne tend to ref the breakdown? Also is he black/offside colour-blind (just curious)?
Scared or what doesn’t matter how he refs teams got to adapt simple , there’s two more refs sideline plus the bunker so let’s keep the refs out of the equation and wait for the 83minute.
Congratulations to Wayne Barnes for his well deserved appointment. He was by far the best referee of the RWC.
👍