Owens' appointment has Irish fans - and one former player - nervous about facing the All Blacks
The referees for next weekend’s World Cup quarter-finals have been announced and Irish fans are slightly nervous about the appointment of Nigel Owens for their contest with the All Blacks in Tokyo.
Games refereed by Owens tend to be more free-flowing, with fewer penalties and the ball in play longer than any other referee. The All Blacks are synonymous with free-flowing rugby, and the appointment of Owens plays into their hands, according to Irish fans on social media who include Luke Fitzgerald, the former Ireland and British and Irish Lions international.
Although this selection has not filled Irish fans with optimism, it is not a criticism of Owens per se - or at least it should not be. The Welshman has been revered as one of the premier referees in the world over the past decade and he refereed the RWC final in 2015 between New Zealand and Australia. This is simply a case of his refereeing style not suiting Joe Schmidt’s side.
In contrast, All Blacks fans will be elated that they have a referee that will facilitate their brand of rugby. It is just the luck of the draw and, in this circumstance, Ireland feel they are not winners.
While this may be a stylistic clash between Ireland and Owens, some fans also feel that Owens’ approach does allow the All Blacks to get away with a lot more on the field, largely at the breakdown and pushing the offside law to the limit.
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This is a long-held theory amongst the rugby world that New Zealand are treated more favourably than other teams and Owens will potentially only help them.
The Welsh official has never been a hugely popular figure in Ireland since the All Blacks denied them in the final play of the game at the Aviva Stadium in November 2013 due to what some fans feel were some dubious calls. Similar criticisms were aired in June 2012 when Owens was in charge of a match in Christchurch which the All Blacks only clinched with a late Dan Carter drop goal.
Then again, every country will inevitably have a vendetta against one official. This is what has been said:
Elsewhere, England versus Australia is being refereed by Jerome Garces, Jaco Peyper takes charges of Wales versus France, and the hosts Japan are officiated by Wayne Barnes against South Africa.
Despite beating the All Blacks the last time they played in November, Ireland will go into this game as underdogs and the fans feel this is appointment only makes the job harder.
WATCH: The RugbyPass guide to Tokyo
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Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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