RFU fury over Graham Henry’s slur against Wayne Barnes
Rugby Football Union officials are understood to be outraged by passages in Henry's new book, Final World, which appear to question the impartiality of English referee Wayne Barnes and his assistants during the All Blacks' 20-18 defeat at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
Chief executive Ian Ritchie has ordered the Union's legal team to investigate and is likely to demand answers from Henry, who, as well as being knighted for services to rugby in May, was recently appointed to the International Rugby Board's powerful Rugby Committee.
Some high-ranking RFU officials believe Henry should immediately be stripped of that position and it is understood the IRB are also looking closely at whether New Zealand's World Cup-winning head coach should face a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.
Henry's comments stem from the belief his side were given a raw deal by Barnes, who missed a forward pass for France's second try, binned Luke McAlister and failed to award the All Blacks what might have been a winning penalty despite incessant late pressure.
Barnes was later subjected to a hate campaign in New Zealand, with some irate supporters going as far as issuing death threats against the widely respected whistler.
As well as the comments in his book, which are now being scrutinised by the RFU, Henry went further on TVNZ last Sunday, saying: “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 added: “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.”
The refereeing community has been stunned by Henry's remarks and one leading Premiership official, who asked to remain anonymous, has called upon the RFU to protect their integrity by demanding the Kiwi be called quickly to account.
He told The Rugby Paper: “It defies belief that anyone could think this about Wayne Barnes. You could not wish to see a more honest bloke and he's a barrister, so why would he even consider jeopardising his future career? It wouldn't be on his radar.
“What Graham Henry said is an absolute disgrace and it's libellous. He's got to look at himself, his selections and how his own team played, rather than questioning the integrity of a referee. If I was Wayne, I would certainly be consulting my lawyers.
“If these comments were made by a football manager the FA would be all over it, so you'd hope for the same. I would expect the RFU to demand answers and you can't just fob it off as something that happened five years ago, because he said it on TV last week.
“At the very least Henry should be asked to apologise, and how he could still hold a position on the IRB Rugby Committee after this would be beyond belief.”
The RFU refused to comment when approached by The Rugby Paper, but the IRB did issue a statement offering their support for Barnes, who is due to officiate in matches involving Australia, South Africa and Argentina in the forthcoming Rugby Championship.
It read: “We are not really commenting at this stage on Graham's remarks except to say that we back Wayne Barnes as a referee.
“He is one of the best and most experienced match officials in the world and a valuable member of the elite international panel.
“That match to which you are referring was five years ago and any refereeing issues arising from it were dealt with five years ago.”
NEALE HARVEY
