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Nigel Owens has reportedly reached a decision over Springboks job
By Liam Heagney
Centurion referee Nigel Owens has reportedly given Rassie Erasmus his final decision about an offer to work with the Springboks at the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France. The SA director of rugby wanted the 2015 RWC final referee involved as a law and strategy consultant to help smooth things over following some high-profile run-ins with World Rugby after criticism of referees during the 2021 British and Irish Lions series and the 2022 Autumn Nations Series.
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Now retired as a referee, Owens last month explained he was conflicted about what to do – to take six months away from his current way of life on the farm in Wales and throw everything in with helping the Springboks, or turn down the offer to be involved at another World Cup.
Erasmus claimed last weekend that he had every confidence that Owens would accept the offer, suggesting to Sportsmail: “Everyone knows about Nigel. I actually just emailed him. From the outside, he said it’s a goer. From the inside, we will know next week.”
Owens’ answer won’t please Erasmus as walesonline.co.uk, the website that publishes the official’s weekly column, are now claiming that he told SA Rugby he was turning down their job offer.
A report read: “Legendary referee Nigel Owens will not be accepting an offer to join the South African coaching team for this year’s World Cup. WalesOnline understands he has now told Erasmus that he cannot commit to the role at this time.”
The development will be a blow to the Springboks’ hope of retaining their Rugby World Cup title as the recruitment of Owens was viewed as a tactic that would help them move on from recent controversies with referees. Erasmus explained last weekend why he wanted Owens on board: “We could take one of our local refs, but it would be another South African voice.
“People from the outside think the South African voice is attacking or arrogant. Even the way I talk, sometimes people think it’s aggressive. When you have known me a while you know it’s not aggressive. We definitely want to change that view. Prior to those two incidents [Erasmus’ bans], we never had stuff like that. It will take hard work to change.
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“Someone like Nigel might come in and say, ‘These guys are doing it right’ or he might say, ‘Hey guys, you have to change a few things here’. It’s the way he communicates. It’s a real thing we are trying to fix, not a smokescreen. I don’t want to talk myself into a hole again here. We basically felt we have to repair this because obviously there is not a great relationship. We want to reset that. It’s a genuine need for us to change.
“If we get our way, we will have him as soon as possible. We are very aligned in terms of the way World Rugby is going with safety, tackling, head contact. So it’s the perception of whether or not something is OK when we send it to World Rugby. Maybe Nigel could talk to them for us. And then there is his knowledge in reviews, previews, videos. We want someone to be a full-on management member. It would be great.”
