Wayne Barnes to referee Rugby World Cup final
England's Wayne Barnes will take charge of the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday 28 October. Barnes, the world's most capped referee with 110 Tests and making his debut in Fiji's match against Samoa in Suva in June 2006, will become the second Englishman to officiate a Rugby World Cup final after Ed Morrison, who officiated the games in New Zealand and South Africa. Africa last met in a title decider in 1995.
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The 44-year-old adds his name to a list of Rugby World Cup finals referees that also includes Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia 1987), Derek Bevan (Wales 1991), Andre Watson (South Africa 1999 and 2003) .), Alain Rolland (Ireland, 2007), Craig Joubert (South Africa, 2011), Nigel Owens (Wales, 2015) and Jérôme Garces (France, 2019).
This will be Barnes' record 27th Rugby World Cup match as a referee in the fifth tournament. The final will be his sixth match in the middle of the 2023 French Championship, matching the record he set at RWC 2019 when he led New Zealand's victory over Wales in the bronze final in Tokyo. Barnes will have compatriots Carl Dixon and Matthew Carley as assistant referees, while Tom Foley will be appointed as the TV match official.
Rugby World Cup Bronze final appointments
World Rugby has also announced Emirates' official appointments for the bronze medal match between Argentina and England at the Stade de France on Friday 27 October. Nick Berry (Australia) will lead the bronze final, supported by Niki Amashukeli (Georgia) and Andrew Brace (Ireland) as assistant judges, and Ben Whitehouse (Wales) as TMO.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: On behalf of World Rugby, I would like to congratulate Wayne Barnes on his well-deserved appointment as Referee for the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final. This appointment is a reflection of Wayne's caliber not only at this tournament, but throughout his illustrious career.
“This is a result of his dedication to the game, the support of his family and the spirit of cooperation and excellence that exists throughout our official match team. We wish him and Nick Berry the best of luck this weekend.”
World Rugby High Performance 15s Official Match Manager Joël Joutge added: Wayne’s ability to read and understand the game is second to none. He also epitomizes the passion, professionalism and dedication that underpins the excellent team of officials at this Rugby World Cup.
Although it is an individual who ultimately receives the award for judging the final, it was the team of 26 judges who played their part in this moment. I would also like to congratulate Carl, Matthew and Tom on reaching the final, and Nick, Nika, Andrew and Ben on their bronze finals.
Early scores may be secret to settling outcome of World Cup final
Both New Zealand and South Africa will be looking for a fast start to Saturday's Rugby World Cup final as they await any early lead that could set the tone for the clash at the Stade de France, All Blacks defense coach Scott McLeod predicted on Monday.
"It's no secret that both sides will be focused on the first 20 minutes, he told a news conference as preparations began for the final between the two traditional rivals. It will be about who can execute the exact game. We talked about it in this match. In the morning. We need to be extremely precise and at the same time be able to apply pressure. But the Boks will also come out and want to start well, so we will prepare for that too.”
The two meetings between the All Blacks and Springboks this year were characterized by fast starts. New Zealand raced to a 17-0 lead in the opening 12 minutes when they hosted South Africa at the Rugby Championship in Auckland in July to win 35-20. Rugby fans can book Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.
South Africa's Dominance in Previous Encounter
When the teams met at Twickenham in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match at the end of August, South Africa led 14-0 at half-time and extended their dominance after the break, inflicting a record defeat of the New Zealanders 35-7. We felt like in the first game we were a little better, a little faster, and in the second game we were slow. We learned a lot of lessons from this, McLeod added.
Regarding the All Blacks' approach on Saturday, McLeod said their review of Friday's semi-final win over Argentina showed they needed to make better use of the space given to them. Argentina was extremely physical and we had to work hard to get through, but we also had space around it. The Springboks will be very similar, they put a lot of pressure and come at you quite quickly, he said.
“We want to face their big men who run hard, forward and be extremely accurate in set-pieces. The tournament showed that you need to be included in every fight.”
McLeod said there would be a particular focus on South African kicking. We haven't encountered this in the tournament and we'll continue to do so this week. According to him, they are very good at getting into the air and then returning the ball.
Springboks have work to do ahead of Rugby World Cup final against All Blacks
After South Africa overtook England to set up a historic Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand, Jacques Nienaber's coaching staff and players were left with a lot to think about as they battled for a record fourth title.
The Springboks' poor start against England nearly cost them money before they rallied to claim a 16-15 win on Saturday. The defending champions trailed 12-6 at half-time after defenders Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit were penalized and England's Owen Farrell made it big with four penalties.
The Boks' lineouts also misfired, losing three out of 10 for the game, which is half as many as in the previous five games of the tournament. Next Saturday in Paris they will face an All Blacks side who easily beat Argentina in the other semi-final and amassed a tournament-best 325 points.
"We're going to have to come up with a plan, Boks midfielder Handre Pollard told reporters after the game. They're playing a really explosive game, punishing teams all over the park. We're going to have to work on ourselves to do that."
Pollard, 29, scored the winning penalty in difficult weather conditions in the 77th minute against England in Paris, four years after he scored the decisive point four minutes from time against Wales in the semi-final round of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan . A week later in Yokohama, he scored 22 of South Africa's 32 points in their victory over England in the final.
“Going into the final minutes of the game, everyone knew it was going to end up something like this, Pollard said. There was a slight side wind. The wind wasn't blowing too hard. made it slippery."
Ox Nche's Impactful Scrum Penalty
The opportunity came as substitute Ox Nche won a scrum penalty when the tight-headed prop settled a Springboks set-piece that had been inconsistent against England. They have lost four encounters, as they did against France in the quarter-finals last weekend, which will be another cause for concern for Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus, his astute director of rugby.
Our fight saved us, Pollard said. It's such a blessing to have such a big influence off the bench in the scrum. Nienaber and Erasmus' substitution strategy worked for the second week in a row, although it took a little longer to implement. The cool Pollard came on for Money Libbock after just 30 minutes against England, while the experienced Faf de Klerk came on a minute after the break for Kobus Reinach.
Impactful Substitutes in Rugby World Cup
Replacements such as Nche and R.G. Snyman, who scored in the 69th minute, also had a positive impact on the three-time Webb Ellis Trophy winners until Pollard's late penalty. We always prepared for this, Pollard said. You never expect to be on the field before half-time.
But I went out on the field and tried to do my job. Next weekend's decider in the French capital will a rematch of the iconic 1995 final won by South Africa. The teams have played each other more than 100 times since their first Test in 1921. Nienaber's side claimed victory in their last meeting with a record 35-7 win over the All Blacks in their final game before this Rugby World Cup.
New Zealand recovered from this humiliation by beating tournament favorites Ireland in the quarter-finals and crushing Argentina in the semi-finals. According to Nche, it depends on how much they have grown since then. You can see how they play, how they go about their business, it's different. He added that this would be a completely new challenge.
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