Owens lives up to billing but was powerless in Farrell’s tunnel scuffle
Welsh referee did not have the authority to take any action over the pre-match pushing and shoving
ACalcutta Cup match is always one of the most passionate occasions you could wish to referee, but I am not sure Nigel Owens would have expected the fireworks to start before kick-off, as they did when Owen Farrell was involved in some pushing and shoving in the tunnel after the warm-ups.
The first thing to point out is referee is unable to take action against a player before the match. If you see the incident, you can report it to the citing commissioner and recommend the player be investigated after the match, and if serious enough, speak to the police, but you can’t stop someone taking the field.
When discussing this incident, there are two examples from my own career that spring to mind.
At England’s Grand Slam decider in Dublin in 2003, Martin Johnson stood on the ‘wrong side’ of the pitch for the national anthems. The Irish refused to switch from their traditional side, and the dignitaries had to walk on the mud – rather than the red carpet – to shake hands with both teams.
Five years later, the Welsh stared down the All Blacks after they had performed the Haka ahead of their game at the Millennium Stadium. Despite my requests for them to do so, neither set of players moved for well over a minute, which the crowd absolutely loved even if I did not.
On both occasions, I was unable to take any action against the players to encourage them to move. Before kick-off, it is the job of the stewards, the stadium staff and the police to ensure everything passes off as smoothly as possible – not the match officials. I do not know if Owen Farrell’s actions would have merited a red card, but even if they had, it is worth pointing out that Nigel Owens was essentially powerless.
When the game actually began, I thought Nigel did well. His strengths are his feel for a game and his communication skills. Here, he often favoured the defensive team, and rewarded Scotland’s clear superiority at the breakdown. It was not a flawless performance, and I think England will be disappointed Danny Care was called back when he was through for an interception try just after half-time. Nigel went back to penalise Joe Launchbury, but if he had been playing advantage to Scotland, then I certainly did not see or hear it.
The other major calls were correct. I have no issue with the fact he allowed play to continue and Farrell to touch down before checking if Courtney Lawes had knocked on when dislodging the ball. Sam Underhill can have no complaints either. It was a clear no-arms tackle, and Nigel did well to both pick it up and explain the yellow card.
Nigel is to my mind the best, if not one of the best, referees in the world, and he lived up to that billing.