No-one got a word in when Nigel was the ref

OWEN Farrell appears to have a problem with referees, even when the referee in question has retired to spend more time with his newspaper column.

Nigel Owens, president emeritus of the Rugby Union Anti-Trappist Society, went after Farrell following the England captain’s full and frank discussion with the Scottish official Mike Adamson during the Six Nations victory over Italy.

“I have huge respect for Owen…but there was too much chat from him to the referee,” he wrote. “That must stop. He never did that with me.”

How could he have done? When the whistler from Mynyddcerrig was running the show, Farrell could not get a word in edgeways. There was more chance of him pronouncing Mynyddcerrig correctly than interrupting Our Nigel in full flow.

Owens was not a quite an original, mind. His countryman Clive Norling made a name for himself as an on-field raconteur. So, too, did Tony Spreadbury, whose West Country version of the Queen’s English opened rugby ears to the richness of regional dialect.

But Owens cornered the modern market in refereeing one-liners. Why should mere retirement threaten his monopoly?