Record breaking Barnes to referee Rugby World Cup final
England's Wayne Barnes will enjoy the crowning moment of a career which has seen him take charge of a record 110 Tests when he referees Saturday's Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand.
The 44-year-old lawyer is the second Englishman to referee the final after Ed Morrison, who was in charge when coincidentally New Zealand and South Africa last met in the title decider in 1995.
Barnes, who took charge of his first Test with Fiji v Samoa in Suva in June 2006, will add another record to his laurels on Saturday.
It will be a record 27th Rugby World Cup match for Barnes in his fifth tournament.
The final will be his sixth match in the middle during France 2023, equalling the record he set four years ago when he took charge of New Zealand's defeat of Wales in the third place/fourth place play-off in Tokyo.
Barnes will have compatriots Karl Dickson and Matthew Carley as his assistant referees with Tom Foley named as the Television Match Official.
