Texting with his phone over the edge of the balcony shows this man's true confidence

Mr Barnes, much respect for the RWC final. You handled an extremely difficult job very very well.

Well done Wayne on reaching 100 games you weren't one of our favorite refs a few years back but you're one of the best around these day. All the best from Aotearoa NZ.

I always knew referees were just lawyers with great cardio 😄

Thank you for all your dedication ,fair and impartial control of alot of Big blokes. My respect to you.

Thank you Wayne, I really enjoyed getting to know you a bit better and seeing a ref, so important for any game of rugby. Thank you for all your work in making the game of rugby, the sport I love, so enjoyable to watch.

Congratulations Wayne, without a doubt the best referee going in my opinion, keep up the great work!

I'm a bok supporter and I absolutely think Wayne is a great referee. Top bloke too. Well done on an amazing achievement for getting to 100 tests.

How does he find the time? Great ref, enjoyed his cameo on next level where he had a page of notes on Gengey.

I've had a few annoyances with Wayne Barnes in past Ireland matches, but he is a great referee, it's a huge challenge to keep control of big matches and in general rugby union refereeing is outstanding.

Jesus what an impressive bloke! Barrister and top ref that takes some doing. Don’t think I’ve ever seen him have a bad game to be honest! Get this bloke a statue please RFu

Good man, respect from Aus- ignore Rassie and the basement dwellers that follow him, keep up the good work.

Enjoyed this! Good to get a sense of him as a person!

Good damage control from what Rassi started. Top ref!

Congratulations Wayne Barnes. Amazing achievement. Pity we couldn't celebrate this feat infront of a packed Twickenham during the England vs Boks test.

As an Irish man I wouldn't be the biggest fan of the English Rugby team. But I think you are absolutely FANTASTIC... You are a pro, through and through.. you've given Ireland a few controversial calls... as you did with other countries... Proves you are human... But I think you are in the top 3 refs in the world !!!

Great guy and one of the best referees in the world. Totally unjustified hate coming from the SA fans, who seem to be getting more and more paranoid.

Great ref and seems a nice guy too!

I have always thought him as a top ref. He has perfected the art of not stifling players opinions but knowing where to draw the line.

Great to see this. Supporting the refs at all levels of the game is vital to its success and to see what Wayne has achieved is pretty impressive. Rugby is the greatest sport on the planet for those who know and everyone involved makes it that way but the respect for the refs take it to a level above other "world" games. (Looking at you South Africa 😀 )

Barnesy is an awesome ref and a great guy, certainly the smartest thing on a rugby field

What a fantastic man, first and foremost.

Excellent ref.really Good. And a barrister wow...

Love wayne top bloke

As a Bok supporter, I still think that Wayne Barnes is a brilliant referee - one of the best of all time. My only reply to my fellow Bok supporters is this : There will always be 50/50 decisions and controversial moments - rugby is a dynamic sport and I take my hat off to all referees who have to make split-second decisions under immense pressure and scrutiny. You don't get to referee 100 games at the highest level by accident. Lets focus on winning games and not relying on decisions to always go our way. Go BOKS!!!!

Takes balls to be a ref, just learnt he is a lawyer too. Wow much respect to you (fyi Bok fan here)

Class act

Nice video. I like Barnesy, he’s a good ref. It’s a tough job.

A Barrister and a ref? Impressed!

If you’re an All Black supporter you’re not going to ever forget that Michalek forward pass against France RWC 2007 but now without a doubt by far the best referee in the world IMO and has been for quite a few years.

Great to see him make 100 Tests and the resilience he showed recovering from 2007. Hope he gets a World Cup final in '23.

Top ref! Shafted us a few times BUT a top Ref nonetheless! 😉☘️

Used to be in dismay when I saw him reffing any Bok game. But boy, has he changed my mind. One of the best in the game atm. (Nigel Owens is still the GOAT)

Wayne is an honest broker. I don't think he favors one team over another on matchday, he says it how he sees it and that's good enough for me.

Your life sounds like a perfect balance. It appears that you are acting as a barrister in the week and a judge at the weekends. Well done.

The best current referee in the world.

As a kiwi I'll never forget his 2007. That's about the only dark stain I have. A proven leader and all man. Kia kaha Wayne 💥

legend

I met him at Exeter v sale last season hes such a nice guy 😊

Love Wayne barnes ❤

Your honour....it's an honour... getting to see him talk about his personal growth it's amazing. We can criticize, think we know the rules of rugby union but really what they do on the pitch is impressive. We need more interaction with the refs . Congrats Wayne..Allez les bleux

Sometimes you gotta create those moments..

I worked with him when he was a student at the UEA many years ago, top bloke and good ref🏉🏉

Wayne Barns is the Secret Barrister

Wonder what position he used to play - just noticed he's actually pretty tall.

So going to meet a new rugby captain is like going down to the cells… Yeah, okay, that tracks :) I have huge respect for rugby referees, such an impossible sport to supervise, so congrats Wayne on reaching the top and staying there so long.

Quick question Wayne The try that you asked to be officiated on (Aaron Smith) had a knock on which was FOUR phases before the try. The TMO rules on the world rugby website, say that a TMO can officiate on whether a try should be awarded or not, based on incidents that happened during the TWO phases before the try. Not four. Did that crucial rule slip your mind in a World Cup final? Will you acknowledge your error, as you did with the French forward pass in 2017. And they say you are the best referee in the world. Yikes. 🤦‍♀️

Congratulations Wayne Barnes I understand the Abs had you in the dressing room for a couple of beers. They are better sports than me. I'm still scarred about your performance in 2007 Abs v France. And this year in the 2nd test v Ireland our prop was sent off for head contact. In the 3rd test the same thing happened Brodies face was literally broken, and it was a yellow card. So in the ten minutes of the card we caught up, I have no doubt if it had have been red, according to the law, New Zealand would have won the series. So as good as you are those two games cost us a lot. And I can't forget them

He looks so young.

Didnt know he was a lawyer till recently

Best in the world.

He get paid 😂😂😂😂

Great bloke, great referee

*Thanks for all that you have done for our great game Wayne. Congratulations on becoming the most capped ref in history. Well deserved. All the best from New Zealand.*

Hahaha then he bloody robbed us! 🤣 But hats off I mostly enjoyed the games he's been a part of.

Another bok supporter who dons his cap to Barnsie. He is truthfully a great ref!

He really is a world class referee.

Never text whilst hanging one's phone off a chuffin' balcone!

The lack of respect for referees these days is appalling Entire teams appealing for favour is disgraceful Nigel is one of the last officials that will not hear it

Someone get the man a better laptop.

Very coronet ❤

Good on ya for all you've achieved, but to us kiwis you'll always be the ref who missed that forward pass.

He seems a lot younger than on the pitch

well done wayne barnes sorry about the threats to you and family from kiwi fans

How he got to 100 is a mystery. Seems to make major errors often.

The fact that refs have other professional jobs might be one of the reasons why there are so many officiating issues… World rugby needs to appoint refs permanently and pay them more so that they can only focus of refereeing! Almost like a weekend hobby…

No 1 ref now

Ref's not the prob! Its the rules! Rassie trying to safe rugby by showing the real prob's!

"against new zealand" ?!

I can not bleves how he refthe ireland match 5

Biggest dog cheat in the game, how come the international officiating is only northern hemisphere

Has he come out yet? I hear that his closest friends have been aware of his heterosexuality for some time.

Doos

This is one of the problems with modern rugby and why the game lost its way. If referees are “personalities”, or “play an integral part of the game”, then there is something wrong with your game.

You have a wife and kids Wayne ?

The only fans he has are English

Thank God he won't be around for the next world cup 😐

Wayne Barnes is responsible for one of the worst decisions in a RWC which he admitted much later after the game that he had made a mistake. 2007 RWC All Blacks vs France a forward pass which Barnes decided on the spot that the video ref was not required. Utterly reckless and irresponsible decision by taking the law into his own hands. Thank goodness we have TMO's now that can override the incompetence of the match referee.

Most crooked ref in rugby

No good ..Hates the Ireland team ..seen him do us in loads a times

No mention of how he handed France the 2007 quarter-final win in Cardiff? Blew zero penalties against France for an entire half, ignored a blatant forward pass and somehow the French were never offside in their own 22...

Don't like this ref

He is useless and bias.end of the story full stop

Why are the refs doing weights ? All they need is cardiovascular fitness

He is not good

Rugbys most bias ref ever.he ruins the game

He is useless at his job

A good ref but can be a bit hard on Ireland sometimes, I don't know now but a few years he wasn't irelands players favorite referee, but a good referee he is.

Terrible referee doesn't like Ireland or Leinster some very strange calls made over the years will be interesting to see his decision making in the Leinster Toulouse game

Barnes is clearly an intelligent man so why does he persist in saying “high day” (haut jour) - not an expression I’ve ever heard used in France - when he means hors jeu - offside. He’s much hated on France, this sort of disrespect partially explains why.

worst