In his latest book, Wayne Barnes made it abundantly clear that he has not forgiven Henry for his “s****y” comments, which he contends could have completely derailed his career.
“Someone that senior and with that much influence saying something like that is pretty s***** and could have had huge ramifications for me and the game of rugby,” he wrote.
“I can forgive someone saying something horrible in the heat of the moment, but he’d had five years to think about it, and an editor must have said to him at some point, ‘Do you really want to write that?’.”
The feud could have escalated further, with Barnes, a criminal barrister himself, revealing that defamation lawyers contacted him over potentially suing the coach regarding his comments.
While he ultimately decided against a lawsuit, there is certainly no love lost between them – as the referee admitted: “I’ve never shaken Henry’s hand since, though, and I doubt I ever will.”
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Retiring Wayne Barnes ranks the worst rugby 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