Wayne Barnes: ‘It’s gone to the next level of abuse in the last 12 months – aimed at my family’

Rugby referee who retired after the 2023 World Cup final on his career, online abuse and friendship with Howard Webb.

BOWING OUT: Referee Wayne Barnes, who has labelled social media abuse towards him and his family as "vile" and called for the trolls to be held to account. Pic: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.

Acluster of balloons and a birthday cake, in the shape of a chocolate caterpillar, light up Wayne Barnes’s family home. 

The most accomplished and most vilified referee in world rugby smiles and points to a silver balloon in the shape of a seven, to confirm the birthday they will celebrate once his son and nine-year-old daughter return home from school for this afternoon’s party.