Nigel Owens

Nigel Owens
Nigel Owens officiating the 2009 Guinness Premiership match between Bath and Leicester Tigers
Date of birth 18 June 1971
Place of birth Mynyddcerrig
Occupation(s) Rugby union referee
Refereeing career
Years Competition Apps
2007–2011
2005–present		 Rugby World Cup
Test matches
Heineken Cup

Nigel Owens (born 18 June 1971 in Mynyddcerrig, Carmarthenshire, Wales) is a Welsh international rugby union referee. He is an international and Heineken Cup referee and was the only Welsh referee at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France,[1] as well as the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Owens was appointed as an international referee in 2005, and that year officiated his first international between Ireland and Japan in Osaka. Owens made his World Cup debut in Lyon, France on 11 September 2007 in the Argentina vs. Georgia match. He is one of only two referees to be appointed to referee two consecutive Heineken Cup finals: Munster v Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium in 2008; and Leicester Tigers v Leinster at Murrayfield in 2009. He has since done a third final Leinster v Ulster in Twickenham 2012, this as well as two Amlin finals makes a total of five European Finals making him the most capped referee in European competition.

He is one of the presenters on the Welsh language TV chats shows Jonathan and Bwrw'r Bar. Also now has his own quiz programme which he hosts on S4C called Munun i Fynd. In 2011 he was made a member of the Gorsedd of Bards.[2]

Personal life

Owens was raised in the small village of Mynyddcerrig, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He is a fluent Welsh speaker. He was a school technician at Ysgol Gyfun Maes Yr Yrfa Cefneithin and youth worker with Menter Cwm Gwendraeth. His autobiography, Hanner Amser (Half Time), was published in Welsh in 2008, then in English in 2009. In 2011 he was made a member of the Gorsedd of Bards.[2] He was a patron of the LGBT Centre of Excellence Wales, until its disbandment in late 2012, but he is still that of the Wooden Spoon Society rugby charity. In 2013 Owens became a patron of Bullies Out charity in Wales.[3] He was made president of the Wales Federation of Young Farmers Clubs in 2010.[4] Owens is a fan of Wrexham Football Club[5]

Career

Owens was appointed as an international referee in 2005, and that year officiated his first international between Ireland and Japan in Osaka. Owens made his World Cup debut in Lyon, France on 11 September 2007 in the Argentina vs. Georgia match. He is only one of two referees ever to be appointed to referee two consecutive Heineken Cup finals: Munster v Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium in 2008 and Leicester Tigers v Leinster at Murrayfield in 2009 and has since refereed another final in 2012 Leinster v Ulster.

He is one of the presenters on Jonathan, a rugby-themed Welsh language chat show hosted by former Welsh international Jonathan Davies, broadcast on S4C on the eve of big international matches. He co-presents the sports-themed Welsh language chat show Bwrw'r Bar and now has his own show a quiz programme "Munud i Fynd". He is an after-dinner speaker.

In May 2007, Owens publicly came out as gay in an interview with Wales on Sunday. Although reactions have been generally positive, he says it was a difficult decision to make and that he had even contemplated suicide.[6]

"It's such a big taboo to be gay in my line of work, I had to think very hard about it because I didn't want to jeopardise my career. Coming out was very difficult and I tried to live with who I really was for years. I knew I was 'different' from my late teens, but I was just living a lie."

Shortly after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Owens was named 'Gay Sports Personality of the Year' by gay rights group Stonewall's gay awards ceremony in London.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Welsh ref Owens on World Cup list IcWales.co.uk
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Gorsedd honour for Gillian Clarke and Nigel Owens". BBC. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Nigel Owens: Football and rugby could benefit from one captain's challenge per match...and why Luis Suarez MUST issue a sincere apology". Wales Online. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.yfc-wales.org.uk/yfc-officers/
  5. ↑ http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fifa-must-stamp-down-play-acting-7253186
  6. ↑ Bevan, Nathan (20 May 2007). "Ref's gay torment". Wales on Sunday. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  7. ↑ "World Cup rugby ref's gay award". BBC News. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2010.

External links