Ireland fans sour over ref Owens’ appointment
When the All Blacks and Ireland take the field on Saturday, Welsh referee Nigel Owens will be holding the whistle.
His appointment to the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal didn’t faze the All Blacks camp. Assistant coach Ian Foster said it was neither good nor bad and that they were happy with whoever they got, but Irish fans weren’t as accepting.
Owens’ current resume – he has the lowest average penalty count out of all tournament referees, and the longest ballin-play time – didn’t impress hopeful Irish fans.
When the announcement was made, former Ireland rugby player Luke Fitzgerald shared the news with a face palm emoji. When asked what the issue was he replied: ‘‘I like the referee to referee the game. ABs know they’ll be able to cheat all day at breakdown.’’
Fans were quick to approach to the game.
‘‘[Three] 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 [sic] shenanigans at ruck time. Loves a good game, not so good on the technicalities,’’ one Irish fan commented. criticise Owens’
‘‘I can’t stress enough how bad of an appointment Nigel Owens is for Ireland on Saturday. He will let them get away with blue murder,’’ another wrote.
The sourness from Irish fans was mirrored by Irish media who claim Owens’ appointment was only good news for the Kiwis.
‘‘You often hear of the extra 1 [per cent] in great sides, how they seek it every day in training and then implement it on the pitch. For New Zealand, they often find that in pushing a referee to the brink of a card, and then winding it back in,’’ Irish sports reporter Rob O’Hanrahan from Sports Joe wrote.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said the four referees chosen for the quarterfinals – Owens for the All Blacks v Ireland; Frenchman Jerome Garces for England v Australia; South African Jaco Peyper for Wales v France; Englishman Wayne Barnes for Japan v South Africa – were the ‘‘best of the best’’.