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If you go back to 2015, there was a huge amount of refereeing experience at that World Cup and it was only really Craig Joubert that retired after the tournament. That meant you had even more officiating experience available for selection in 2019.

About eight months beforehand, the referee manager and selectors decided not to take Glen Jackson and John Lacey, which was a mistake, in my view. There was a blend of youth and experience, but the experience was needed. World Cup matches and big Six Nations clashes are a different beast to a normal international. That is when you find out about referees.

In 2019, I think decision-makers thought that the younger referees would be doing the knock-outs. But some of them just did not perform. It was myself, Jerome Garces, Jaco Peyper and Wayne Barnes that took charge of the quarter-finals onwards. If myself and Jerome had been injured in the semi-finals, I think they would have been in big trouble without being able to select Jaco or Wayne either.

It was similar to 1999, when Jim Fleming and Derek Bevan were the oldest referees there and ended up with the semi-finals Frances wonderful win over New Zealand and a game that went to extra-time between Australia and South Africa.

In the run-up to 2023, we have to be very careful. Jerome has retired, I have retired, Pascal Guazere has retired and now Romain has retired. If England and South Africa do well again, you have to rule out Wayne, Jaco and a few more promising Englishmen like Luke Pearace and Matthew Carley when it comes to the late stages.

I do not know the circumstances around Romains retirement. I sent him a message wishing him all the best and congratulating him on his career. But people should know that losing an experienced referee causes issues beyond the 80 minutes of a game. You could throw Romain into any game in the world and you would know what you were getting. With younger referees, you have to think carefully about whether or not they are ready.

Romain is 46 and it seems at the minute that the powers-that-be want to pension off referees because of their age rather than performances. As I say, I do not know Romains exact circumstances but, when I told him I would be calling it a day myself, he said that he wanted to aim for a knock-out game in 2023 in his home country.

We tend to see young players introduced during the autumn internationals and it is the same with referees. Nika Amashukeli from Georgia, oversaw Irelands impressive win over Japan. At the moment there is a group of hugely talented referees under Jaco and Wayne, but you would have to say there are question marks about whether they can control the very biggest games consistently. World Cups are so difficult and something always happens. Sometimes things just blow up in the face of referees and they fall by the wayside. You need a bit of luck, too. Without a vastly experienced group, it can be a real problem.

Slightly behind Wayne and Jaco is a group comprising Angus Gardner, Ben OKeeffe, Mathieu Raynal, Luke Pearce, Matt Carley, Nic Berry and Paul Williams. Out of those, World Rugby needs two or three to push for a knockout game at the next World Cup. I would put Andy Brace, Karl Dickson and Craig Evans, who was on the whistle for England against Tonga, in the next group down. They will be pushing to take opportunities so they can be at the 2023 World Cup. Then, if they stay in the game, they could be given a knockout game in 2027.

There is a lot of stake for players and coaches this autumn. Crowds are back and the countdown to the next World Cup is on. But there is also a lot at stake for referees, and more so because of Romains retirement.

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Rugby needs to be careful about pensioning off referees... the countdown to the World Cup is on - Telegraph.co.uk