It is often asserted when a referee is appointed that the referee in question is "terrible for us." This is usually done without recourse to statistics and is instead accompanied by evidence which is heavy on anecdotes about times when the referee in question had "done us over." It is also rarely remarked upon that an appointment might be a positive. While rugby players are loath to attack refs, this custom does not extend to supporters. Referee appointments in rugby often result in a great deal of eye-rolling from supporters with long memories.
Well, we have decided to look at the records, beginning in 2007, to establish what referees have proven good or bad for Ireland.
Now, obviously these statistics should come with a health warning and they are not the full story. For instance, Ireland's very mediocre numbers when Nigel Owens has been refereeing is influenced by the fact he has refereed an unusually high number of New-Zealand-Ireland games, while our extremely strong record when Craig Joubert has been refereeing is partly down to the teams Ireland have been playing when he's been in charge. Nor are the results the full story. Just because Ireland lost does not mean the referee is in anyway responsible. Similarly, in games where Ireland won, it does not mean we got on the right side of the referee (Nigel Owens reffing of Scotland-Ireland 2011 springs to mind). There are a lot of variables here. Nor is there any question of bias. Perhaps the most one can say is that a referee's interpretation of the laws militate against the way Ireland want to play.
One thing we can say is that Ireland seem to have a better record with Southern hemisphere refs...
Wayne Barnes P 13 W 4 L 9
By quite a distance, the referee under which Ireland have the poorest record in the modern era, Barnes has refereed 13 games involving Ireland since his first back in 2007.
He oversaw Ireland's home defeats to Wales in both 2008 and 2012, with his handling of the latter being particularly controversial. Late in the 2008 game he overturned a penalty he had awarded to Ireland, after Bernard Jackman's "gratuitous" charging into the back of a Welsh player after the whistle. Ireland trailed by a point at the time and ended up losing 16 - 12. He has also sent off Jamie Heaslip in 2010 test match against New Zealand and refereed Ireland's first competitive
It was thought that Ireland's horrific record with Barnes would improve in 2013 when he was assigned to referee Ireland's matches in Murrayfield and Rome, but Ireland contrived to lose both games (however, Barnes was generally accused of having favoured Ireland throughout the Scotland game and could hardly be blamed for anything). In Rome, he became the first referee to sin-bin Brian O'Driscoll in the Six Nations though the centre can have no complaints.
His handling of Ireland's loss in Cardiff on Saturday sparked a hail of complaints, most notably on the pitch where the Irish back row were continually moaning. He told Peter O'Mahony to shut up at one point. Others however disagreed that his refereeing is a factor.
In addition, one of the four victories Ireland managed with Barnes was the humiliating 14 - 10 win
Nigel Owens P 12 W 5 L 7
Owens is generally popular among rugby fans and has frequently refereed Ireland matches throughout his career. Ireland's less than 50-50 record with Owens, is partially down to the fact he has reffed three Ireland-New Zealand games, two on the summer tour of 2012 and last November's last gasp defeat. After the middle one of those three defeats, he became embroiled in a Twitter war with Liam Toland over his controversial assessment that Ireland were 'running around' the scrum late in the game. He was also referee for Tom Court's long dark afternoon of the soul in Twickenham in 2012 when the Irish scrum broke the land-speed record for running backwards.
Ireland's biggest wins
Craig Joubert P 10 W 7 L 3
On the surface, Ireland have an extremely strong record with Joubert, the man heavily criticised for his handling of the 2011 World Cup Final. However, the two of the losses he has presided over were painful ones. The 22 - 1o defeat to Wales in the Wellington quarter-final and the 13 - 10 loss to England last month. Also, most of the wins came against teams Ireland would be expecting to defeat.
Joubert is one of the most famous 'homers' in World rugby and Ireland do not buck this trend
Jonathan Kaplan P 7 W 4 D 1 L 2
Irish fans' memories of Kaplan tend to be coloured by the hideous error made by him and his linesman in Cardiff in 2011 when Mike Phillips' try was incredibly allowed to stand. The linesman, Peter Allan's mistake remains inexplicable but Kaplan (correctly from a technical standpoint) did not go upstairs to consult. He also refereed Ireland's shock defeat to Scotland in 2010 but this has perhaps more to do with Johnny Sexton's nervous kicking performance.
The four victories achieved with Kaplan refereeing were against Italy (3) and Scotland (1) so the statistics should not con one into thinking Ireland had a strong record under Kaplan. His final game refereeing Ireland was the fine victory over Italy in the 2011 World Cup. He also oversaw Ireland's 20 - 20 draw with Australia in November 2009.
Kaplan retired in late 2013.
Bryce Lawrence P 5 W 4 L 1
Probably, the referee under which Ireland have the best record since 2007, Lawrence oversaw Ireland's two epic victories in 2011, the trouncing of England in the final game of the Six Nations, and the momentous 15 - 6 win
The sole Irish loss he looked after was the 2010 summer tour defeat to the Wallabies, which ended 21 - 15. Lawrence retired from refereeing at the end of 2012, partly due to the abuse he received from the Wallabies for his handling of their defeat to Ireland in 2011.
Roman Poite P 5 W 4 L 1
The stats may look surprising given Stephen Jones' formerly favourite ref Poite's awful reputation among Munster fans, but the stats can easily dupe you here. Two of Ireland's wins
Ireland's sole defeat under Poite was the harrowing 60 - 0 defeat to New Zealand on the gruelling 2012 summer tour.
Steve Walsh P 5 W 2 D 1 L 2
One of the most despised referees north of the equator, particularly by English fans (for last year's Wales-England game) Walsh was the man in the middle for Ireland's triumph in Paris last year. This is his fourth Ireland-France game and Irish fans have poor memories of him. In 2007, he failed to play advantage when Geordan Murphy was striding unopposed towards the French line in the second half. Offering profuse apologies for having blown too early, he brought Ireland back for the scrum. He refereed Ireland's draw against France last year, where he went upstairs for the Keith Earls' obstruction incident near the end of the game though he informed the TMO that his instinct was "no obstruction." He also refereed the away World Cup warm up game in 2011.
Ireland's only win
Dave Pearson P 3 W 1 D 1 L 1
Declan Kidney successfully secured a clarification from the IRB for Pearson's stewardship of the 2011 home defeat to France, where Ireland lost 25 - 22 and were screwed on the penalty count. Pearson riled every Irish fan in Paris when, at the eleventh hour (hell, after the eleventh hour) he postponed the 2012 game against France. Ireland's only win
Mark Lawrence P 3 W 2 L 1
W - England, 16 - 20, SN 2010 : L - New Zealand, 3 - 22, Nov. Test, 2008
Chris White P 3 W 1 L 2
W - Italy, 38 - 9, SN 2009 ; L - 2007 France, 25 - 3, RWC 2007 ; L - New Zealand, 21 - 11, Summ. Test 2008
Christophe Berdos P 3 W 2 L 1
W - Scotland, 34 - 13, SN 2008 ; W - Canada, 55 - 0, Nov. Test. 2008 ; L - Australia, 18 - 12, Summ. Test 2008
Chris Pollack P 2 W 1 L 1
W - Scotland, 32 - 14, SN 2012 ; L - Australia, 15 - 32, Nov. Test 2013
Marius Jonker P 2 W 1 L 1
W - Fiji, 41 - 6, Nov. Test 2009 ; L, New Zealand, 18 - 38, Nov. Test 2010
Joel Judge P 2 W 2
W - Namibia, 32 -13 , RWC 2007 : W - England, 43 - 13, SN 2007
Jaco Peyper P 1 W 1
W - Argentina, 46 -24 Nov. Test 2012
Stuart Dickinson P 1 L 1
L - England, 32 - 10, SN 2008
Paul Honiss P 1 L 1
L - Argentina, 30 - 15, RWC 2007
Kelvin Deaker P 1 W 1
W - Wales, 19 - 9, SN 2007
Glen Jackson P1 W1
W - Australia, 26 - 23, Nov. Test 2014
Pascal Guazerre
W - Italy, 26 - 3, SN 2015
JP Doyle
W - Georgia, 49 - 7, Nov. Test 2014
