Wayne Barnes - the man who destroyed a nation - will take control of New Zealand's opening 2015 World Cup fixture against Argentina at Wembley.
For the few people who don't know this, the Englishman wrecked the All Blacks' 2007 World Cup campaign by favouring the French in the quarterfinal at Cardiff. (That's the way All Black coach Graham Henry and a lot of their fans saw it).
Should New Zealand be afraid, very afraid?
Why NZ shouldn't be afraid:
Barnes has controlled six tests involving the All Blacks since the shocking 2007 World Cup scandal. The penalty counts have been close enough to even in five, and New Zealand won a 14 - 8 advantage against Scotland in the other. So he's not out to bring the All Black down. The general penalty counts have been moderate - about 18 per game - which favours the All Blacks' style of game.
Why NZ should be afraid:
Those six matches involve two defeats - against Australia and South Africa - which is a very high failure rate for the All Blacks. But wait, there's more. Last year's loss in Johannesburg involved a controversial Barnes manoeuvre, where he got the right result the wrong way in awarding the late penalty from which Pat Lambie kicked the Springboks to victory.
