The lasting legacy, of the legend that is 'The Battle of Bayonne', endures to this day, as seen in Wayne Barnes' autobiography, which dedicates a few hundred words to the infamous game.
As a quick recap; the match was a bizarrely arranged 2007 World Cup warm-up fixture against a mean Bayonne side who were out to beat up Ireland, and nearly succeeded in ending Brian O'Driscoll's World Cup hopes.
Wayne Barnes Recalls Brian O'Driscoll & 'The Battle of Bayonne'
In charge was Wayne Barnes, who along with his team of officials, struggled to control the game.
Barnes fully blames the IRFU for the disaster, but makes it clear that Eddie O'Sullivan and Brian O'Driscoll were not pleased with his performance either:
When we walked off at half-time, Ireland head coach Eddie O'Sullivan was going mad at me — 'It's a fucking disgrace! You've got to protect my players!' —and I thought, Don't blame me if anyone gets hurt, blame the Irish RFU for organising this shitshow two weeks before a World Cup!
I'd already issued a few yellow cards when a bit of argy-bargy broke out and O'Driscoll hit the deck like a sack of spuds. The game wasn't even being filmed, so my touch judges and I had no idea what had happened (it was only after the game that grainy amateur footage emerged of O'Driscoll being punched by Kiwi lock Mikaera Tewhata).
What we did know was that Ireland's talisman had sustained a nasty-looking injury on the eve of a World Cup and the whole ugly spectacle had been both inevitable and avoidable.
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12 June 2010; Referee Wayne Barnes talks to Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll and No.8 Jamie Heaslip just before the loose forward was sent off. Summer Tour 2010, New Zealand v Ireland, Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. Picture credit: Ross Setford / SPORTSFILE
Clearly the organisers of the fixture were to blame for the farce, but on the day of Barnes' 100th Test cap as a referee, O'Driscoll had still not forgotten about that fateful day and the role Barnes played.
"As it turned out, O'Driscoll's injury wasn't as bad as first feared and he played in all of Ireland's group games," Barnes adds.
"Ireland almost lost to Georgia, however, and were well beaten by France and Argentina, meaning they didn't qualify for the quarter-finals. When the RFU presented me with my 100th cap, we had a little reception at Twickenham and they'd pulled together some messages of congratulations, including one from O'Driscoll.
"He just said, `Barnesy, I've just about forgiven you for the match in Bayonne in 2007: Ironically, Ireland are playing another World Cup warns-up in Bayonne in 2023 — and I'm reffing it again! This time they're playing Samoa."
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