Owens' appointment has Irish fans - and one former player - nervous about facing the All Blacks
The referees for next weekend’s World Cup quarter-finals have been announced and Irish fans are slightly nervous about the appointment of Nigel Owens for their contest with the All Blacks in Tokyo.
Games refereed by Owens tend to be more free-flowing, with fewer penalties and the ball in play longer than any other referee. The All Blacks are synonymous with free-flowing rugby, and the appointment of Owens plays into their hands, according to Irish fans on social media who include Luke Fitzgerald, the former Ireland and British and Irish Lions international.
Although this selection has not filled Irish fans with optimism, it is not a criticism of Owens per se – or at least it should not be. The Welshman has been revered as one of the premier referees in the world over the past decade and he refereed the RWC final in 2015 between New Zealand and Australia. This is simply a case of his refereeing style not suiting Joe Schmidt’s side.
In contrast, All Blacks fans will be elated that they have a referee that will facilitate their brand of rugby. It is just the luck of the draw and, in this circumstance, Ireland feel they are not winners.
While this may be a stylistic clash between Ireland and Owens, some fans also feel that Owens’ approach does allow the All Blacks to get away with a lot more on the field, largely at the breakdown and pushing the offside law to the limit.
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This is a long-held theory amongst the rugby world that New Zealand are treated more favourably than other teams and Owens will potentially only help them.
The Welsh official has never been a hugely popular figure in Ireland since the All Blacks denied them in the final play of the game at the Aviva Stadium in November 2013 due to what some fans feel were some dubious calls. Similar criticisms were aired in June 2012 when Owens was in charge of a match in Christchurch which the All Blacks only clinched with a late Dan Carter drop goal.
Then again, every country will inevitably have a vendetta against one official. This is what has been said:
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— luke fitzgerald (@lukefitz11) October 15, 2019
I can’t stress enough how bad of an appointment Nigel Owens is for Ireland on Saturday. He will let them away with blue murder and who can forget the aviva in 2013. #NZvIre #RugbyWorldCup19
— Ricky Elwood (@RickyElwood) October 15, 2019
3 years ago I'd have been delighted to have Nigel Owens as a ref for #NZLvIRE. Now I'm dreading it, he'll let everything go, particularly the Abs shenanigans at ruck time. Loves a good game, not so good on the technicalities. #RWC2019
— Harvey Rael (@HarveyRael1) October 15, 2019
Ireland have to deal with the Nigel Owens show. Sure it’s entertaining but penalties don’t seems to exist.
— Finn Costello?? (@FinnCostello1) October 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/gerry4813/status/1183999934229561344?s=20
Elsewhere, England versus Australia is being refereed by Jerome Garces, Jaco Peyper takes charges of Wales versus France, and the hosts Japan are officiated by Wayne Barnes against South Africa.
Despite beating the All Blacks the last time they played in November, Ireland will go into this game as underdogs and the fans feel this is appointment only makes the job harder.
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Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments