‘It’s downhill from now on’
Nigel Owens on life at 50:
“BLOODY 50. It’s downhill from now on!”
So begins my conversation with birthday boy Nigel Owens as he brings up his half century.
It’s a watershed period in his life all round, given he has now refereed his last game of professional rugby.
He will still be employed by the WRU next season, coaching young refs, and will take charge of the odd club game, while also doing media work. But you won’t see him out on the big stage any more.
From now on, his main focus will be on his farm in West Wales and his two herds of Hereford cattle.
When I catch up with him for an hour-long chat, the first question is whether it actually feels like he is 50?
“No it doesn’t at all, to be honest with you,” he replies.
“It’s funny though. When I was going down the rugby club in Pontyberem or the Mynyddcerrig Workmen’s club at 17 or 18, there were people there who were old men as far as I was concerned, like your mates’ parents. They were old people. Christ, they then were the same age as I am now!
“So you realise, although you don’t feel old yourself, I probably am seen as old by people who are the age I was back then.”
It was the passing years and the realisation that he wanted to do other things in his life which ultimately led to Owens’ decision to retire from international rugby.
In fact, his original plan was to do so the previous season.
“Just before going to the World Cup in Japan in September 2019, I got injured refereeing Cardiff v Pontypridd at the Arms Park,” he recalls.
“I was sitting at home that weekend with a brace around my leg to help the recovery. I said to my partner Barrie, ‘I want to go, but if I don’t it won’t be the end of the world, I won’t be gutted like I would have been with previous tournaments.
“I did go to Japan in the end. I enjoyed it out there and the games went well. I refereed probably the best match of the tournament between England and New Zealand.
“But then after the Six Nations, I was on 98 Test matches. I was speaking to people and they were saying you’ve got to referee your 100th game, you can’t finish now, you will regret it if you do.
“So, because I was still reffing at the top of my game, I decided to go on and I finished on the 100th game in Paris, when I did France-italy last November.
“I went on a year more than I thought I would. But the end came naturally really.”
Announcing his retirement from Test rugby in December, Owens continued at domestic level, before taking charge of what proved to be his final professional fixture – Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh at the Arms Park on March 22.
“I have refereed my last game in the PRO14 and I won’t be involved in it next season,” he declares.
“But as far as reffing professionally is concerned, that’s me done and dusted. I am finished now.
“I am not missing it one bit at the moment, to be honest with you.
“I am looking forward now to watching Pontyberem play and having a beer or two after in the clubhouse.
“When I said I was retiring from international rugby, the amount of messages I got was unbelievable.”
Owens’ 20 years as a professional referee, the 100 Test matches and his personality on and off the field have seen him acquire a public profile and a celebrity status that no other official in the game has attained.
“After doing the 2015 World Cup final in Twickenham, all of a sudden people were recognising me on the streets of London, which was something I would have never experienced before.
“So I think of that when people come up to me to ask for a signature, or a photo or for me to do a video message for their mate that is getting married. It’s a pleasure to do it. It doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just the way my life has gone, I guess.
“It’s nice when people come up and want a photo and want to speak to you.”
His high-profile has had one downside, though, as he explains.
“If I made a decision in a game, whether it’s right or wrong, then it would be all over the media. Podcasts pick up on it, ex-players will comment about it. There is a former player in Ireland who has had a go at me a couple of times.
“One of his friends, who I know, rang me up to say ‘Ignore that, he knows by having a go at you his podcast is going to get airtime, it’s going to be picked up on by other media.’ So my success brought a huge amount of pressure on me as a referee and I felt the pressure sometimes.
Owens’ profile has increased still further with his presence on social media – where he has some 413,000 Twitter followers – and his refusal to allow unacceptable comments to go unchallenged.
“Saying or doing nothing when people are wronged is not right,” he said. “There are some horrible things said on Twitter, some horrible people on there.
“Sometimes people will say ‘Well, I’m entitled to my opinion.’
“Well yeah, opinions are a bit like a***holes, everyone’s got one.
“We are responsible for what we say and sometimes we have even more responsibility if we stand by and say nothing.”
Away from the big stage and the world of celebrity, Owens’ day-to-day life now is just about as grounded as it could be.
It sees him fully hands on with the two farm sites he owns over 100 acres near Pontyberem and his 50 Hereford cattle. Having been born into a farming family, it’s the fulfilment of a longheld ambition.
So as he reaches 50, do we find him a happy, contented man?
“Yeah, very happy to be honest,” he said. “Yes, I have had some dark times in my life. I was within 20 minutes of losing my life one night. That has probably contributed to who I am today and made me the person I am.
“Life is short, so make sure you enjoy it.”