Nigel Owens

[Tiglon]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... big-games/

I'm not a big fan of Austin Healey, but he's got this absolutely right.

Owens' refereeing for the past year or two regularly frustrates and annoys me, regardless of whether a team I support is playing.

[strawclearer]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... big-games/

I'm not a big fan of Austin Healey, but he's got this absolutely right.

Owens' refereeing for the past year or two regularly frustrates and annoys me, regardless of whether a team I support is playing.

Yes - a provocative article but there's more than a grain of truth there imho.

[Mark62]

I would agree that he thinks he often thinks he is bigger than the games he is in charge of, and have often thought that his ARs and TMO are almost afraid of him and would certainly never contradict him.
That being said Owens law does seem to lead to some very entertaining games.

[Leicestertinytiger]

Couldn’t agree more with this article. I like Nigel Owens, he’s done loads off the field which I respect him for with the likes of eating disorders and gay rights. He’s also a very likeable character on the screen.

But on the pitch, he’s a disgrace by the way he likes the game to be a theatrical show with him centre stage. I found his reffing of the England Scotland game appalling, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but he gave England no change and was definitely biased.

He’s even worse when he’s a linesman, constantly harassing the ref to make decisions on his call.

Is Owens now too much a celebrity to ref, simple answer is yes.

[JP14]

Couldn’t agree more with this article. I like Nigel Owens, he’s done loads off the field which I respect him for with the likes of eating disorders and gay rights. He’s also a very likeable character on the screen.

But on the pitch, he’s a disgrace by the way he likes the game to be a theatrical show with him centre stage. I found his reffing of the England Scotland game appalling, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but he gave England no change and was definitely biased.

He’s even worse when he’s a linesman, constantly harassing the ref to make decisions on his call.

Is Owens now too much a celebrity to ref, simple answer is yes.

I agree with most of your points there however I don't agree with your statement regarding his linesman-ing. I've watched rugby for almost 9 years and it frustrates me how linesman don't get involved enough in the game to saw offside, or which side of the scrum collapses first extra. I like how Owens is getting involved as a linesman, possibly he is trying to regain the spotlight by doing so so I can see where you are coming from in a sense.

[JP14]

I like Austin Healey, get's himself in a lot of :censored on Twitter but he has written a very good article there and I thoroughly agree with it

[TigerCam]

I like Austin's take on the game as it is these days, he and Ben see it as it is and their commentary of the game is all the better for it. IMO, Nigel Owens does seem to developed a bias as seen in his past few games?

[LE18]

I agree with every word in Austin's article, I have never like Nigel's reffing, I have often posted that in my opinion he makes it up as he goes. I find him very arrogant on the pitch, especially to French teams, when he could at least show a bit of courtesy and learn a couple of phrases in french, even if its only please and thank you! I can put up with most refs, even those some folk think they are not good, but Nigel Owens, no thank you, not for me.

[westwinds31]

I’ve been thinking this for a while now. Toulon couldn’t buy a decision and a foe a team I’m not that keen on, I felt really sorry for them at the end of the game. Owens is starting to believe his own press.

[BFG]

Owens is overrated.
Folk are afraid of the chip on his shoulder in my opinion.
Barnes is much better than Owens.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Best in the world, end of. Barnes has improved over the years, but you get a good game with Nigel.

[Tiglon]

You might get an entertaining game with Owen, but you get a fair and consistently refereed game with Barnes every single time. I'll take the latter.

Even when Owen is touch judge you see him trying to grab some attention and impose himself over the referee.

[ourla]

Clearly Healey was struggling for stuff to write this week. Referees are not robots. Owens is a star both on and off the pitch. And it does us English no good to keep harping on about isolated incidents in the Scotland game.

[tripeandonions]

I think that his ego has now taken over his judgement. There have been signs of this in the past two seasons and Austin Healy has been correct in his assessment of this particular elephant in the room.

[Big Dai]

I blame Clive Norling. Before him sir just did what sir just did. The less you noticed the ref the better the game. Now, with microphones and cameras they are approaching the theatrical.