Popular Welsh referee Nigel Owens has revealed he almost missed the 2019 Rugby World Cup after ‘letting his standards slip’.
“So let me let you into another little secret,” wrote Owens in his weekly column for the Wales Online.
He continued: “Ahead of the appointments for last year’s World Cup, Rollars (Alain Rolland) pulled me to one side and told me a couple of my more recent performances were not up to my usual standard. And he was right.
‘Nige, you need to get back to your best, I’m not going to recommend you for the World Cup unless I’m convinced you’re still good enough to do knockout games’.
“Basically, he was saying he could take a more inexperienced official to referee the pool matches if necessary so they could get experience ahead of the 2023 tournament. He expected more from a senior figure like me. This was to be my fourth World Cup and I certainly wasn’t going there just to referee a couple of pool games.
“I told Rollars that he didn’t actually need to tell me if I was good enough or not, I would know if I had started to consistently slip below the high standards I set and expect of myself.
“But I suppose every one of us needs that pep talk at some stage, whatever job we do. And this was my kick up the backside again – just like after that 2014 game.
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“I resolved there and then to get back to my previous level and to make it as difficult as possible for Rollars and his selection team not only to leave me out of the knockout games, but also not to consider me for the final itself, even though I had done it previously.
“I knuckled down, ended up getting the big semi-final between New Zealand and England – which some pundits were saying was the best match at the tournament. It meant I was also one of the names on a piece of paper of the referees who could potentially do the final.
“Jerome Garces quite rightly was chosen and performed very well, as we expected from such a capable official. He has been one of the top referees in the game for a few seasons, with Wayne Barnes and Jaco Peyper, and I felt if someone else was good enough, they deserved to get the final before anyone does it a second time. Jerome was deserving of it, I was so pleased for him.”
JOIN THE RUCK:
LIST | 20 times Nigel Owens didn’t give a f**k
Nigel Owens: One of the most respected referees in the world and a fantastic sense of humour to go with it!
Here we list 20 of his very best moments on and off the pitch.
1. When someone offered him nudes
2. Destroyed
3. Burn
4. He sure did!
