Nigel Owens fiercely rebukes 'shameful' act from France international

Former referee Nigel Owens has said he would have had “no hesitation” in awarding Racing 92 and France scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec a “straight red” for his dive in the most recent round of Top 14 action.

The 22-year-old became public enemy number on rugby social media following his dramatic collapse to the ground on Saturday in his side’s 28-24 defeat to Perpignan at the Stade Aimé Giral.

After making head-on-head contact off the ball with Perpignan’s Bruce Devaux, Le Garrec writhed on the floor clutching his face under the nose of referee Kevin Bralley. While the players may well have butted heads, it was in no way intentional from the prop, who lightly grazed 10-cap France international’s face as he turned around.

Le Garrec has been met with a tidal wave of opprobrium in the wake of his sham, with rugby scribe Peter Jackson describing his behaviour as “shameful” on X. But the criticism does not end there, with further calls for the No.9 to face a ban.

Fixture

Top 14

Racing 92

49 - 24

Full-time

Stade Francais

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Owens, who has plenty of viral videos of his treatment of divers during his illustrious officiating career, waded into the discussion on social media, saying Le Garrec was “lucky” that he was not refereeing.

While extreme, RugbyInsideLine pointed out online that the Welshman may well have been within his rights to brandish a red card, as a dive contravenes World Rugby law 9.27: “A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship.”

Though Racing lost the match, dragging them back into a relegation play-off scrap with Perpignan and Parisian rivals Stade Francais, Le Garrec’s theatrics tarnished what was actually a decent individual display where he kicked nine points.

Racing host bitter rivals Stade Francais this weekend in what could be a defining match in their season. Though the calls for a ban are merely social media hysteria currently, losing Le Garrec would be catastrophic for the Top 14 strugglers.

🍿 Proper theatre from Le Garrec here.

Deserves a ban for it.

Got to stamp this kind of stuff out of the game where possible.pic.twitter.com/NitRPUnDAK

— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) April 20, 2025