Owens officiating a 2014 United Rugby Championship match
Birth name
Nigel Owens
Date of birth
(1971-06-18) 18 June 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth
Mynyddcerrig, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Occupation(s)
Rugby union referee
Rugby union career
Refereeing career
Years
Competition
Apps
2001–2020
Challenge Cup
9
2002–2020
Heineken/Champions Cup
98
2002–2020
Pro14
149
2003–2020
Test matches
100
2007–2019
Rugby World Cup
2015
RWC finals
1
2019
RWC finals
3
Correct as of 19 October 2019
Nigel Owens, MBE (born 18 June 1971) is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He previously held the world record for the most test matches refereed[1] and is one of five international referees listed as professional within the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans, Adam Jones, Dan Jones and Ben Whitehouse.[2] He is widely considered to be one of the greatest rugby referees of all time.
Owens is also known as a television personality, as one of the presenters of the S4C Welsh language chat shows Jonathan and Bwrw'r Bar ('Hitting the Bar'). Owens also hosts his own quiz programme Munud i Fynd ('A Minute to Go'). At the 2011 Eisteddfod Genelaethol, he was made a member of the Gorsedd of Bards.
^"Wales v New Zealand referee Wayne Barnes: His 100th match, the 'f***ing cheat' incident and a fine career". Wales Online. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^"International Referees". Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
NigelOwens, MBE (born 18 June 1971) is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He previously...
British businessman Nigel Olsson (born 1949), drummer for Elton John, solo recording artist NigelOwens (born 1971), Welsh rugby referee Nigel Pivaro (born 1959)...
The first winner of this since the change in title was Saracens fly half Owen Farrell. During the creation of the Champions Cup, former organisers ERC...
on 5 November, and France a week later. Former international referee NigelOwens condemned Erasmus' behaviour following the controversy, after many other...
regular on the S4C rugby chat show Jonathan, alongside Jonathan Davies and NigelOwens from 2018. She has also worked for ESPN, and for Sky Sports covering...
first captain to raise the trophy three times. 2011–12 Heineken Cup "NigelOwens from Wales will be the man in charge when Leinster face Ulster in the...
tensions arose when Exeter's Tomas Francis was sin binned by referee NigelOwens for a deliberate knock-on within their own 22, however a penalty of their...
the neutral Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, and refereed by Welsh referee NigelOwens. Toulouse kicked off and managed to regain possession. Toulouse dominated...
Cahill. 24 January 2018 (2018-01-24) 5 Imelda May, Blindboy Boatclub, and NigelOwens, with music from the Waterboys. 31 January 2018 (2018-01-31) 6 Rosemary...
26–29 South Africa Stade de France, Paris Try: S'busiso Nkosi, Bongi Mbonambi Con: Handre Pollard 2 Pen: Handre Pollard 5 Referee: NigelOwens (Wales)...
and Munster, but lost out to Brive in 1997 and London Wasps in 2007. NigelOwens of Wales was named as the match referee for the 2009 final on 13 May...
United States' John Quill for a shoulder charge to the head of England's Owen Farrell. Argentina bounced back from their defeat by France with a 28–12...
to be one of their agents. Owens was known to MI5 by the codename SNOW, which was chosen as a play on his last name. Owens ran a company that made batteries...
compulsory, as injuries were part of the game. High profile referee NigelOwens has however suggested making the wearing of headgear compulsory for all...
favourite movie of the Welsh former international rugby union referee, NigelOwens. Composer Mark Thomas won a BAFTA Cymru award for his work on the film...
finals, both against Toulon. For the second year running, Welsh referee NigelOwens officiated the Champions Cup final – in doing so, he also became the...
After yet another post-match attack by Owens on Zayn, an irate Zayn demanded a match against Owens, but Owens refused to wrestle unless it was for the...
Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. Two weeks before the match, NigelOwens was chosen to referee the final. This was Racing's first European Cup...
front row collapsed allowing Bernard Foley to tie the scores. Referee NigelOwens awarded a penalty to New Zealand after Sekope Kepu made a high tackle...
(2015-11-02). "NigelOwens wins World Rugby Referee Award at post-World Cup ceremony". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2021-12-21. "Historic moment awaits NigelOwens". rugby365...
advance of the semi-finals. On 23 May it was announced that referee NigelOwens would take charge of the final. It was the fifth final that he has refereed...
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