Nigel Owens issues plea to fans over 'personal' attacks on Owen Farrell
In the midst of the controversy surrounding England captain Owen Farrell, renowned ex-referee Nigel Owens has called on fans to desist from 'personal attacks' on the flyhalf.
Farrell’s participation in the World Cup is in renewed doubt after World Rugby appealed against the decision to overturn his red card from Saturday’s clash with Wales.
An independent disciplinary panel caused an outcry on Tuesday when it cleared the England captain to play despite his shoulder-led tackle to the head of Taine Basham that was expected to result in a significant ban.
But, having examined the written judgement of the hearing, World Rugby believes there is grounds for an appeal, the details of which have yet to be confirmed.
Owens, who has written that Farrell's tackle warranted a 'red card' in a recent column, has now come to the defence of the 31-year-old, who has found himself the subject of torrents of online abuse after the incident.
"With respect a lot of you need to stop letting your emotions take over. Do not look at the individual who by the way is one of the best on and off the field. Just deal with the facts of the tackle,not who made it. That’s what we all do as officials now please stop being personal," Owens wrote on X.
He was supported by former Wales international and pundit Jonathan Davies, who replied: "I totally agree.I can’t believe the hatred on here. Social media at its worse. Owen is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet and a great rugby player."
Farrell's father, Andy, the current head coach of Ireland, labelled the abused aimed at his son as 'absolutely disgusting'.
“Whatever I say is probably flawed anyway,” said Farrell Snr. “When you’re talking about somebody’s son and asking the question, it’s always going to be flawed, so what does that really matter?
“I don’t normally say too much because of that type of reason about my son.
“But what I probably would say at this moment in time is that the circus that’s gone on in and around all of this is absolutely disgusting, in my opinion, disgusting.
“I suppose those people that have loved their time in the sun get a few more days to keep going at that.”
additional reporting PA
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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