The incident this weekend that proves Wayne Barnes is class
Rugby NewsTuesday, 01 September 2020 at 12:01
One of the best referees in the world, Wayne Barnes was back on the pitch in the Bank Holiday Monday 27-23 win by Wasps at Bath.
Here is exactly what happened when Barnes asked Tom West if he was happy to safely scrum at hooker for Wasps.
Top 5 All-Time Best Rugby Referees in History
5. Ed Morrison (England)
The Bristol referee took charge of 41 major Tests and officiated at three World Cups. He cut his teeth in the 1991 tournament with Scotland v Japan being his most high-profile game before coming to the fore in South Africa four years later.
He took charge of the Wales-New Zealand Pool game before taking on the France-Ireland quarter-final and then the most iconic World Cup final in history when the Springboks beat the All Blacks.
4. Derek Bevan (Wales)
The Clydach official spent 16 years at the top including taking charge of 11 World Cup games spanning four tournaments.
At club level, Bevan's career highlights include taking charge of the 1997 European Cup final between Brive and Leicester[7] and refereeing the Welsh Cup final on four occasions.
Since his retirement from refereeing, Bevan has worked as a Television Match Official (TMO) but retired in 2016. Outside of rugby, Bevan worked as a training officer for BP's chemicals division in Port Talbot.
3. Jim Fleming (Scotland)
Incredibly spent 18 seasons as an international referee and his World Cup CV takes in four tournaments between 1987-1999 (he and Derek Bevan are the only two referees to achieve this feat).
After a low-key start in ‘87 Fleming refereed England-New Zealand four years later plus the Ireland-Australia quarter-finals and Australia-New Zealand in the last four.
His big game in ‘95 was the South Africa-Samoa quarter-final while he was the man in the middle for the South Africa-England last eight clash in ‘99 as well as the France-New Zealand semi-final.
2. Andre Watson (South Africa)
The Stellenbosch University graduate remains the only man to referee two World Cup finals having overseen the Australia-France showdown at the Millennium Stadium in 1999 as well as England’s 2003 victory over Australia.
That year he also was the man in the middle for arguably one of the greatest games in World Cup history when Shane Williams burst onto the Test scene in that thrilling 53-37 defeat to the All Blacks in Sydney.
1. Nigel Owens (Wales)
Uniquely popular among players and supporters, Nigel Owens is known as much for his one liners as he is for his officiating.
The Welshman, who took charge of the 2015 Rugby World Cup final referees games in a positive manner, looking to keep the game flowing by being quick to penalise players who do not roll away or release.
Although some criticise him for becoming the centre of attention, Owens has built up a good relationship with players who respect him in turn.
In 2016, Owens became the most-capped rugby referee when he took charge of the Fiji-Tonga clash in Suva, overtaking Jonathan Kaplan's record of 70 tests.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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