Ted's the scapegoat but what about that ref?

Reuters

BARN-STORMING: English referee Wayne Barnes had a shocker as the All Blacks crashed out of the World Cup.

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Duncan Johnstone

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Ok, just enough time has passed for this not to sound like sour grapes - Wayne Barnes probably cost us the historically slim chance we had of winning the World Cup. That's Wayne Barnes, the pasty Pom who was running around blowing the whistle (sometimes) during the quarter-final against France.

There, I've got that off my chest. It's been brewing for a wee while. And I feel I might just be speaking for a fair few Kiwis as well.

When I finally got home from work on Sunday from the better part of 13 hours pouring over the sorry shambles of the All Blacks' quarter-final exit, one of the first things my wife said to me was: "I hear the refereeing was pretty shocking."

This from a woman who hates rugby. But she kept getting it hammered at her from everyone who brought up the All Blacks' loss.

I told her it wasn't the time to blame another World Cup disaster on a referee. That was far too simplistic.

But as time has moved on - slightly - I'm afraid it has to be said. What my wife was hearing was right - no matter how you look at it, Barnes was a hugely influential figure in this match.

His sin-binning of Luke McAlister, his miss of the forward pass that led to a French try and the questionable French hands in a ruck at the very end of the match have been well-documented.

But you also got the general feeling that Barnes was on a bit of a mission to keep an eagle eye on Richie McCaw, possibly at the expense of a few French misdemeanours.

As a former lawyer Barnes is obviously reasonably bright. As a referee that may be a bit more debatable.

By all accounts, Barnes is a rising star on the English, European and international refereeing scene. I'd suggest his rise may have been a bit too quick to be appointed to a match of this significance.

Don't forget this was the Tri-Nations champions against the Six Nations. It was the best team in the world against the tournament hosts on a hugely emotionally occasion.

Sounds like it might have needed the best referee in the world. I don't think we got that person dished up to us.

And perhaps astute TV commentator and former All Black (and World Cup winner) Grant Fox hit the nail on the head when he suggested that while the French were now moving forward in the competition, Barnes should not.

To hear Paddy O'Brien telling New Zealanders to grow up as a nation was a bit rich. That's former Southlander O'Brien who now lives in Dublin and is Barnes' boss as the IRB's man in charge of refereeing.

Of course Paddy's going to back his man. Beacuse in backing Barnes, Paddy is backing himself.

Paddy, after all, would have had a major say in appointing Barnes to a fixture that has shown he was probably operating out of his depth.

Now before you go off about this really starting to sound like sour grapes, I'll be the first to admit that Barnes wasn't the lone cause of the All Blacks' shocking exit. There was plenty of blame to be placed on the New Zealand and playing staff.

Things like silly passes, spilled ball, poor option taking, the lack of a dropgoal attempt at the end are a few worth mentioning.

Then you could go on about questionable selections, rotational policies that saw most players spending more time on the sidelines than the playing field and the rash of niggling injuries that dogged the "fittest and freshest" side of all time.

But I can't help but keep going back to some equally obvious mistakes by the officials. I say officials because Barnes could have done with a call from his touch judges on a couple of those crucial areas.

Not so long ago Graham Henry voiced concerns that the fate of a crucial World Cup match could be determined by some poor decision-making by the man in the middle.

How very right you were Ted.

In his graciousness Henry hasn't uttered a word of complaint against Barnes in the public outpouring of this loss.

It's a loss that cost him his job and, more importantly, his golden legcay.

I'm picking it must be hurting him like hell not to mutter something about those costly refereeing blunders.

I couldn't keep it in for too long.

Speaking of which, it wasn't that long ago that French coach Bernard Laporte was down this way lambasting Australian referee Stuart Dickinson in a Wellington hotel foyer.