"A mess " - Nigel Owens shocked by the weekend's refereeing at Twickenham

Owens revealed to The Telegraph: "You cannot obstruct an opponent from jumping at the lineout, and when you watch the footage back it looks like Itoje did that, before Dombrandt subsequently scored.

"Normally, if there was any doubt then the referee would refer to the television match official, and because that incident was a moment of foul play it is covered under the protocol of using the TMO.

"Even if the officials were not aware of the incident, the TMO would be watching everything in the truck and could intervene. I was surprised that didn't happen, particularly when the Wales players were asking the referee to check for foul play. That would normally trigger a review.

He continued: "I was never one for wanting players to tell me to check something, and would tell them to not come chasing me for potential incidents to be reviewed.

"But if the captain or the player concerned did so in the correct manner regarding a particular moment, that would make me question whether they have a point and I would ask the TMO to have a look.

"If it had been checked, then the decision centres on whether Itoje obstructed Beard from jumping at the lineout. I would say Itoje probably did obstruct Beard, which means if it had been checked, I would have been pretty surprised if the try had stood.

"If you did not see the incident yourself as the referee, you would be hoping that your assistants and the TMO would intervene. The smile on Itoje's face said everything, really!

"The reason people will be disappointed is because moments like that are why we have the technology in the game.

"I have seen the comments made by Pivac and he is right to be disappointed and to ask the question why it wasn't checked."

The popular referee selected his picks for Wales Online, but set out at the start that he wouldn't be picking any Welshman in his selection.

"I am not going to include any Welsh players on my list because I haven’t refereed them in international matches.

"Anyway, these are my top Test skippers ranked, Welshmen aside."

Owens said: Some people will be surprised at this one to start off. His misfortune was perhaps to be leading England during a difficult time, but he always gave everything for the cause, encouraging others to follow suit, and he was a nice guy off the pitch."

Owens said: "He was not only a great rugby player but also a great leader and a great man. Whenever I came across him on the field, he impressed me."

Owens said: "He’s right up on any list of rugby’s greatest players.

"Maybe he will be at the top for many people.

"New Zealand won something like nine out of every 10 games in which he led them, but the mark of Richie McCaw was how he conducted himself when the All Blacks lost."

Owens said: "I’m classing this as a joint-ticket as whenever I seemed to ref Ireland in their day O’Driscoll was captain and O’Connell was vice-skipper.

"O’Driscoll actually used to tell me if there were issues with the forwards then I should chat to O’Connell.

I found them excellent to deal with."

Owens said: "My choice as the best skipper I encountered may raise a few eyebrows, but what a captain Dusautoir was. He unfailingly put his body on the line throughout his career — recall the 38 tackles he made when France knocked the All Blacks out of the 2007 World Cup — led by example and understood the game very well."