Andrew Porter expressed that certain decisions made by referee Wayne Barnes during Ireland’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to New Zealand left him seething with frustration on the field.
“Especially in the front row there is that added pressure, responsibility on you where a decision that doesn’t go your way can tip things in favour of the other team,” Porter told The Rugby Pod.
“A lot of the time, you know you’re in the wrong when a penalty is given against you but when it’s those 50-50 calls where you feel a bit hard done by, it’s real tough to not get worked up about it.
“I could feel that in the New Zealand game in the quarter-final, my blood was boiling after a while because I felt like I’d been hard done by. There are a lot of people out there who could disagree with me and always have.
“Being a ref is probably tougher than being a player in terms of the amount of criticism you’re going to get. One team is always going to hate you at the end of the day.
“I’m still trying to come to terms with it in my own head but it was gutting,”
Wayne Barnes ranks the worst rugby players to referee
In his first interview since announcing his retirement, Barnes said he believed social media abuse was getting worse.
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Worst players to referee
#5. Joe Marler (England)
Joe Marler facts:
- Marler started his career at Haywards Heath RFC in Sussex where he played in the same side as fellow England international Billy Twelvetrees
- After joining the Quins academy in 2008, the prop spent some time on loan to Esher and Worthing
- He’s been nicknamed Croissant. In his own words, it’s because: “The boys think I have a nose that looks like a French pastry.”
- Marler was captain for England at U18s level and represented the U20 squad throughout the Junior World Championship in summer 2009
- He is also one of the hosts of The Joe Marler Show podcast with Tom Fordyce