Nigel Owens: The Final Whistle: The long-awaited sequel to his bestselling autobiography!

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This is a tale of triumph over adversity, of hope over despair. The publishers say, 'It makes for a truly compelling read as the rugby book of the year.' Nigel Owens co-presents S4C’s ‘ Jonathan’– the rugby-themed Welsh language show hosted by Jonathan Davies. I’ve held similar roles before. I haven’t been in to see the Wales squad this year, but it’s the sort of thing I’ve done with Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Dan Biggar and Ryan Jones over the years, while I’ve unofficially helped out a few players outside Wales as well, improving their communication and overall relationship with referees. Nigel refereed at his fourth consecutive Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019. Welsh Rugby Referee Nigel Owens Quotes – Top 5

Aside from his fantastic rugby refereeing knowledge and skills, rugby fans enjoy Nigel’s firm but fair and often entertaining interaction with the players. Some of Nigel Owens Best Bits, on-pitch quotes, one-liners and best-bits include: Former international rugby referee, Nigel Owens is one of the most highly regarded adjudicators in the sport thanks to his career longevity and global experience. From World Cups to Heineken Cups and every other competition available, Nigel has been at the forefront of ensuring safe and fair play for the sport’s biggest games. Equally prominent for his LGBT+ rights advocacy, Nigel is openly gay and challenging the taboo surrounding homosexuality in male-dominated industries like rugby. As a speaker, Nigel offers a fresh perspective from the pitch and expands on the importance of diversity and inclusion in supporting mental health. But while it’s certainly something that I’d consider doing and would probably enjoy doing, there are things that I need to sit down and go through from my side with my partner, family and the Welsh Rugby Union, where I’ve been a full-time employee for more than 22 years now. The job entails a lot of time away, so I’ve got to factor in the personal, family side of things and being away from the farm. Coupled, of course, with those epic on-pitch lectures to players which ended up becoming social media sensations. 'This Is Not Soccer', a dressing down given to 22-times capped Italian player Tobias Botes who was showing dissent, is the most famous of the lot. The slogan actually appears on the front cover of the book. I’m told there were a few mutterings that I might be retiring after the World Cup. Indeed, the producer of the S4C rugby show, Clwb Rygbi, approached me after I’d done the PRO12 final in Belfast between Munster and Glasgow and asked if I’d like to come to work for them as I was due to hang up my boots, or whistle, so to speak.

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England’s Chris Robshaw queries Nigel about a French player. Nigel tells Robshaw there was nothing wrong with the play. Robshaw starts to say “He was…” to which Owens stops him dead with “ Uhh… Christopher!”. “Sorry, sir”, replies Robshaw. Whatever, once more I merely said what came naturally at the time. Scotland’s captain Greig Laidlaw, who was listening in, was grinning, Hogg started giggling to himself a little, accepting the rebuke and admitting he was wrong. The one that stands out most, of course, is ‘This Is Not Soccer’ - a lecture he delivered to Italian scrum-half Tobias Botes.

Nigel is the first openly gay man to come out in professional rugby. He officiated his first international game in 2005 in Osaka, for the game between Ireland and Japan. And is the current record holder for test matches refereed, and made his World Cup debut in 2007 in France. He is the only referee ever to be appointed to referee three consecutive Heineken Cup finals (2015, 2016 & 2017). He also was a referee for the finals in 2008, 2009 and 2012 making it a record six European cup finals and two challenge cup finals. I'm proof that you can overcome the dark times, the trauma when you feel you are going nowhere, and still come through to achieve your goals, land your dreams and reach the very top of your profession.People clearly did, still do, and that's fine. As far as I'm concerned though, anything I said was simply me being me as a referee, interacting with a player and just trying to get my point across." He turned what was happening into a positive, saying it "spurred me on, made me even more determined to do well at the upcoming tournament. I knew I couldn’t afford to slip up. So the heat was very much on."