‘Scott Barrett needs to be careful at Rugby World Cup’ – Ben O’Keeffe

New Zealand’s leading referee Ben O’Keeffe has urged All Blacks second-row Scott Barrett to take extra caution during the Rugby World Cup, after he avoided suspension for foul play.

Barrett received two yellow cards during New Zealand’s record defeat to the Springboks at Twickenham on Friday. The first card was for repeat infringements from the All Blacks, and the second one was for a dangerous cleanout on Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx.

That meant he received a red card and was in danger of missing the Rugby World Cup opener against hosts France at the Stade de France on September 8 due to suspension.

No sanction for Barrett after red card

However, an independent World Rugby judiciary panel have confirmed that Barrett will not be sanctioned further after determining that the two yellow cards were sufficient.

That decision saw the All Blacks breathing a collective sigh of relief as a suspension for the 29-year-old would have left the three-time world champions thin in their second-row stocks ahead of that clash with Les Bleus.

If Barrett had been suspended it meant Sam Whitelock and Tupou Vaa’i would have been the only available locks to play for the All Blacks in that match as Brodie Retallick is currently sidelined with a knee injury.

And while Barrett has escaped further suspension, other players were not so lucky. England duo Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola will miss their tournament opener against Argentina in Marseille on September 9 after receiving red cards against Wales and Ireland respectively.

Meanwhile, former All Blacks centre George Moala, who is now representing Tonga due to a change in World Rugby’s eligibility rules, received a 10-week suspension after he was red carded for a dangerous tackle against Canada and although it has since been downgraded to five weeks, he is still likely to miss the entire World Cup.

And referee O’Keeffe has warned Barrett to be careful at the World Cup as World Rugby are set to punish offenders found guilty of dangerous play at the global showpiece.

“As we’ve seen over the last few weeks, every player needs to be extra cautious,” O’Keeffe told Newshub’s AM show.

“We’ve had players being red-carded and have been sanctioned for 10 weeks, down to three and four, so people have been missing the World Cup. He needs to be careful, but every other player needs to be careful as well.

“We’ve seen his previous record – he’s a very physical player, which is really good. Obviously, we’re on the line with some of the decisions sometimes.

“He might have a history, but that history doesn’t need to come into the discussion in this situation. They were never talking about a red card for the incident.”

Barrett also received a red card for a dangerous tackle on the Wallabies’ Michael Hooper ahead of the 2019 World Cup in Japan, and Saturday’s dismissal means he is the first All Black to be sent off twice.

Final preparations for the World Cup

Meanwhile, O’Keeffe and his fellow match officials who will be on duty at the World Cup are now in their final preparations for the highly anticipated tournament.

After there was an increase in cards during the 2019 World Cup’s pool stage, O’Keeffe insists referees won’t be so over eager to send players from the field in France.

“I’ll meet all the referees next week,” he said. “I hope we don’t have a lot of red cards, I hope we don’t have a lot of yellow cards that are happening in games.

“We want to see 15 on 15. We want to see the best players in the world playing at what I think is going to be an awesome World Cup.”

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