Nigel Owens – Austin Healey, Peter Stringer, Ronan O’Gara, Dan Biggar, Maro Itoje
On Healey: “Definitely Austin Healey. I only caught him towards the end of his career, thankfully. A wonderfully talented player and a very good pundit now, but he always had plenty say and quickly assumed I didn’t like him. He’s actually blocked me on Twitter, but I don’t think I’m the only one.”
On O’Gara and Stringer: “Definitely! ROG and (Peter) Stringer, oh, when you had to referee the two of them together. I always got on well with the both of them though. I have a huge amount of respect for them, but they made my days hard on occasions. They were lippy in a respectful way.”
On Biggar: “Oh god yes. He’s so focused and so passionate about what he’s doing, we’ve had a few run ins on the pitch down the years. I mean, it’s always been in a respectful way as we always have a drink and a laugh after the game.
On Itoje: “He is someone who plays right on the edge. That is what makes him such a great player. Itoje must be so difficult to play against but he’s also difficult to referee and I mean that with the utmost respect. He plays with passion and on the line. It is difficult to tell Itoje not to bring the same confrontation and aggression to the game that he usually does. It would take away from his game. You don’t want him to change the way he plays but he needs to pick and choose when he gambles on the situation and when he doesn’t. And understand better those moments when you are under pressure and knowing when, if you take a risk and get it wrong, you will land your team in real trouble.”
Luke Pearce – Johnny Sexton
On Sexton: “I’ll answer this question properly when I retire but I’ve had a few run-ins with (Johnny) Sexton down the years. He’s a top player but sometimes he pushes his luck.”
