Our partners at ACME Whistles were able to catch up with leading RFU referee Luke Pearce this month as he reflected on the announcement of Wayne Barnes’ retirement after his farewell game behind the whistle at the World Cup Final.
A figurehead of refereeing globally, Wayne was widely recognised as a talisman for match officials in the sport.
We caught up with Luke who reflected on Wayne’s decision to hang up his whistle. He said: “I guess it just reminds you what this sport is about.
“You know we spend all year chasing the big games and travelling and flying around the world, but then it’s only when someone finishes and there’s a change of the guard, especially someone in Wayne’s position where he’s been at the top of the game for the 13 years that I’ve been professional, he’s kind of been the person that I’ve been trying to get near or chase.
“He’s just an overall good bloke.
“It was great to see that World Cup final. Whilst it was pretty devastating for England to lose in that last two minutes against South Africa, it would have been equally devastating for Barnes to not have the chance to finish on such a high note.
“He’ll stick around. He doesn’t just go off into the distance, so I’m hoping that he sticks in our department in some shape or form, but we what we can’t do is lose that level of experience.
“There’s no doubt that I’ll continue to work with Wayne and make sure that I pitch into what he’s done over the last 20 years.
“He’ll be missed on field, that goes without saying. But I’ll also miss him a lot for the challenges in meetings where he’s always posing different questions. But, like I say, I’m hoping that he won’t disappear and he’ll be involved and we can dip into his experience for the coming years.”
The ACME team went on to ask about the hole that Wayne’s departure creates, and if that provides an opportunity for Luke and other referees on the world stage. He added:
“Oh, listen, I’d love to, but I think that the prime thing that I need to do right now is get back and make sure that I’m refereeing consistently well in the premiership and then the European Cup and then hopefully Six Nations after that.
“One thing that Barnsley showed everybody was that consistency and performance is everything in refereeing.
“There’s always going to be peaks, and there’ll always be troughs in performance. That’s the way any sport and any job works. But one thing that Barnesey showed us is that you need to be at a very good level for a lot of the time.
“I’d love to step into that lead role, you know, but stepping into Barnesey’s shoes? They’re pretty big shoes to fill.
“It also isn’t going to happen overnight and we’ve got a great set up, and great referees, not just in England, but across other northern hemisphere unions as well.
“It’s a gap opening up, but it’s a gap that will be missed as well. Wayne could referee any game without a problem – and he was always amazing support on the sidelines as well.
“So yeah, it’s going to be kind of sorely missed. But it does present opportunities for others.
“In sport it’s all about having opportunities and taking them. “We’re looking forward to the Six Nations which is also our first development window really towards World Cup ’27.”
