Paul O'Connell speaks with Barnes after a penalty decision. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
Joe Schmidt’s side struggled to get to grips with the Englishman’s interpretation at the breakdown early in the game, conceding 12 points to the boot of Leigh Halfpenny as a result.
Captain Paul O’Connell pushed Barnes for clarity around his decision-making in a game that saw Ireland concede a total of 11 penalties, including two debatable calls at scrum time in the second half.
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However, Ireland are not blaming the match official after this defeat, instead focusing on their own shortcomings and fixing them for next weekend against Scotland.
“Look, we’ve no gripes with the referee,” said replacement scrum-half Eoin Reddan, who was a lively presence off the bench. “They’re very strict and we want them to be. We more than anyone want the game to be played in the right spirit and have always tried to do that, whether it be scrum or ruck.
We’re always clean as a whistle and that’s the way we want to play and in the long run we’ll be rewarded for that. The referees being strict and tough is a good thing for us, because that’s how we’ll be playing the game.
“We’ll have a look and see if there’s anything we could have done differently, if we could have got out of there a bit quicker and try to help him as much as possible.”
Head coach Schmidt echoed that sentiment when asked about Barnes’ performance on the whistle.
While the Ireland head coach did point to “some very, very stringent refereeing of the tackle area,” he refused to elaborate any further with a criticism of the RFU man.
“No, look we’ve got to take responsibility for what happens in our ruck and with our tempo and I think that’s for other people to look at. We’ve got to look at ourselves and there’s got to be some credit given to the Welsh as well.
Barnes yellow carded Sam Warburton for a breakdown offence. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“The last time Ireland came here they got a big lead in the first half and Wales came storming back. We knew they wouldn’t give us the luxury of a big lead in the first half but we didn’t help ourselves.”
O’Connell’s confusion at the communication from Barnes in the first half appeared to be genuine, and the real issue may be that different referees have different viewpoints on certain aspects of the game.
Reddan insisted, however, that Ireland come into games fully aware of each match official’s style.
If the referees are consistent in what they deliver, the team can do the analysis of that and there won’t be penalties in the game,” said Reddan.
“If the referee comes into a game and gives what he always gives, there shouldn’t be penalties in the game because lads are doing their work.
“Sometimes there are unavoidable situations that if the opposition did it to us, we’d expect them to be penalised. That did happen once or twice today, and for people watching it can be a crazy one, thinking ‘he couldn’t do a thing there.’
“But that’s the way it is and it keeps the game moving fast, it keeps it clean. We don’t have any problem with the ref. Sometimes it goes against you, but we didn’t have any problems with him today.”
Ireland have 'no gripes' with Wayne Barnes after Wales defeat
Murray Kinsella reports from the Millennium Stadium
IRELAND SAY THEY had no problems with the refereeing performance of Wayne Barnes during their 23-16 Six Nations defeat to Wales in Cardiff.
Joe Schmidt’s side struggled to get to grips with the Englishman’s interpretation at the breakdown early in the game, conceding 12 points to the boot of Leigh Halfpenny as a result.
Captain Paul O’Connell pushed Barnes for clarity around his decision-making in a game that saw Ireland concede a total of 11 penalties, including two debatable calls at scrum time in the second half.
However, Ireland are not blaming the match official after this defeat, instead focusing on their own shortcomings and fixing them for next weekend against Scotland.
“Look, we’ve no gripes with the referee,” said replacement scrum-half Eoin Reddan, who was a lively presence off the bench. “They’re very strict and we want them to be. We more than anyone want the game to be played in the right spirit and have always tried to do that, whether it be scrum or ruck.
“We’ll have a look and see if there’s anything we could have done differently, if we could have got out of there a bit quicker and try to help him as much as possible.”
Head coach Schmidt echoed that sentiment when asked about Barnes’ performance on the whistle.
While the Ireland head coach did point to “some very, very stringent refereeing of the tackle area,” he refused to elaborate any further with a criticism of the RFU man.
“No, look we’ve got to take responsibility for what happens in our ruck and with our tempo and I think that’s for other people to look at. We’ve got to look at ourselves and there’s got to be some credit given to the Welsh as well.
“The last time Ireland came here they got a big lead in the first half and Wales came storming back. We knew they wouldn’t give us the luxury of a big lead in the first half but we didn’t help ourselves.”
O’Connell’s confusion at the communication from Barnes in the first half appeared to be genuine, and the real issue may be that different referees have different viewpoints on certain aspects of the game.
Reddan insisted, however, that Ireland come into games fully aware of each match official’s style.
“If the referee comes into a game and gives what he always gives, there shouldn’t be penalties in the game because lads are doing their work.
“Sometimes there are unavoidable situations that if the opposition did it to us, we’d expect them to be penalised. That did happen once or twice today, and for people watching it can be a crazy one, thinking ‘he couldn’t do a thing there.’
“But that’s the way it is and it keeps the game moving fast, it keeps it clean. We don’t have any problem with the ref. Sometimes it goes against you, but we didn’t have any problems with him today.”
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100 caps 6 Nations 6Nations Cardiff All-Ireland Senior HC Six Nations Eoin Reddan Ireland Ireland Joe Schmidt Jonathan Sexton Millennium Stadium OFFICIAL Paul O'Connell Referee Rugby Wales Wales Warren Gatland wayne barnes