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Wales Online
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Tom Coleman

France v Wales referee Nic Berry was publicly ripped apart and left distressed

Wales sign off their Six Nations campaign in Paris on Saturday afternoon, after finally opening their account with a win over Italy in Rome last weekend.

Warren Gatland's men face a France side in ominous form, with Les Bleus heading into this game on the back of an impressive hammering of England at Twickenham.

Nic Berry is the man in the middle for this encounter, but what can we expect from his officiating?

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We take a closer look.

Who is Nic Berry?

Berry was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1984, and started out in the game as a player, enjoying a decent career as a scrum-half for Queensland Reds, Racing Metro and Wasps.

Although he represented Australia at age-grade level, and even played for the Prime Minister's XV against Japan in 2006, he was never called up for the senior Wallabies side.

Sadly, after suffering several concussions, he was forced to retire from the professional game at the age of 28 in 2013.

Three years later, he made his debut as a referee in Super Rugby, and quickly rose up the ranks to become one of the officials at the 2019 World Cup.

What happened in South Africa?

Berry found himself at the middle of a bizarre storm during the last British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was left furious at Berry, accusing him of treating their captain Siya Kolisi differently to Lions skipper Alun Wyn Jones.

In an attempt to prove his point, Erasmus produced an a hour-long video documenting every decision he believed Berry to have got wrong. It was a stunt that would land the Springboks chief with a two-month ban for misconduct.

Erasmus was also ordered to apologise to Berry, who duly hit back at the accusations.

"Needless to say, the whole situation has been an extremely difficult time for my family and me," he said.

“As a match official, I understand that our performances will be heavily scrutinised, especially in such a prestigious tournament.

Who will win France v Wales? Have your say here

"However, the public attack on my integrity and character is not something that should be tolerated in any workplace.

"I considered officiating a Lions tour comparable with a World Cup. The appointment is an honour which few achieve.

"However, due to the actions of Mr Erasmus, my family and I have endured a significant amount of distress and we will only have negative memories of the whole experience.

“I feel that Mr Erasmus engaged in a character assassination of me on social media.

"I have spent many years trying to build my reputation as an international referee and in the course of his video which was posted online, Mr Erasmus has caused it immeasurable damage.

“Though a small proportion of the rugby community will follow the outcome of this matter, and in the process obtain an accurate account of what really occurred, the wider rugby community will only be aware of me in the context of this incident.

"I feel that regardless of the outcome and any sanctions imposed, my reputation as a referee and person will be tarnished.

“Throughout Mr Erasmus’ video, he makes unsubstantiated claims about the incidents that occurred in the 72 hours after the first Test match which I refereed.

“I felt that Mr Erasmus’ video brought into question my professionalism and my integrity as a match official and that there was an inference to be drawn that I was in some way cheating as an official, which is obviously completely untrue.

“His actions are against everything our game stands for and I feel it is important to take a stand against such behaviour.

"I sincerely hope that the outcome of the independent judicial hearing will set a precedent to discourage similar behaviour in the future so that no person has to experience what I have these past few weeks.”

Who are the other officials?

Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

Assistant Referee 2: Christophe Ridley (RFU)

TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)

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