KEY POINTS:
Wayne Barnes' name is like scar tissue for the All Black coaches, always there as a reminder of the World Cup night when their triumphal ride slammed into a Cardiff speedbump.
Their paths crossed again when Barnes ran the sideline this year in the All Blacks' 19-0 victory in Cape Town and made a crucial ruling in favour of the visitors when Bryan Habana looked to have scored.
After the match, All Black coach Graham Henry said he exchanged "pleasantries" with the man whose total performance, not just his failure to see the forward pass in France's dramatic World Cup quarter-final win, so enraged the New Zealand coaching regime.
They kept their counsel, publicly, on Barnes but showed their displeasure by firing off uncomplimentary refereeing reviews to the International Rugby Board.
For his part, the IRB section head and former Kiwi ref Paddy O'Brien defended his staff but he was careful not to expose him to any test involving the All Blacks for some time.
Then he drip-fed him to the match in South Africa and now, has him in charge in Sunday's test where any aberrations should not be terminal for the All Blacks.
But then again. Imagine a vital call in the dying minutes, against the All Blacks or even more crucially for Scotland and 103 years of history shattered in an early November boilover at Murrayfield.
That sort of nightmare may have been a greater interruption than normal to Henry's light sleeping patterns as he contemplates another of the hurdles which are an unrelenting part of a coach's life and such fodder for the media.
Henry had weathered questions with some of his sardonic responses about the sharpness of the cutlery which is hovering near his throat these days. He had padded away most of the selection inquiries, the difficulty with the itinerary and the danger from the Scots, who sit at ninth in the world rankings and need a win to avoid a dastardly 2011 World Cup draw.
Then the Barnes question sashayed into proceedings and Henry eased it away like a batsman just easing a ball behind backward point. But it was only the opening ball of the over and there was more heat in the subsequent deliveries and responses.
He felt the difficult tackled ball law was controlled well in Hong Kong and if that continued this weekend and there was an emphasis on the tackler getting to his feet before contesting the ball, and subsequent players arriving stayed on their feet in the challenge, then all would be well.
"I realise it is a pretty hard area to referee because there are a lot of bodies being fired in there in a very short period of time but I think there has to be a very clear vision of what is required there," Henry said.
"I guess the biggest challenge is for the referee to be there so he can actually see that."
A chink in the Henry psyche, a concern about Barnes whose fitness was queried at the World Cup?
No way, said Henry, as a subsequent question asked what he was suggesting.
"All I'm suggesting is that if he can be there and see it, it helps," came the stonewall reply.
New Zealand's rugby psyche was that every time the All Blacks played they brought the best to the playing arena.
"I think that is a real strength of New Zealand rugby. It creates real pressures particularly when you don't play the same team every week but that is not realistic because then you get beaten. It is an expectation of New Zealand rugby and when we lose that, we have lost something special."
