NIGEL OWENS REFEREEING CAREER

Born in Mynyddcerrig, near Carmarthenshire, Nigel Owens if a fluent Welsh Speaker. He started refereeing in 1987 after his sports teacher suggested he take it up; his first game was an under-15s match when he was just 16 years old. And he didn’t stop there.

He made his European debut at the 2000-01 European Challenge Cup season, becoming one of the first three Welsh Rugby Union professional referees. He has also refereed at the 2002 Heineken Cup, the 2002 Celtic League, and the International Rugby Board World Sevens Series between 2002-2005.

He had his first 15-a-side international job, refereeing a second-tier match in the 2003-04 European Nations Cup First Division. Very quickly afterwards, he would earn his first International Rugby Board appointment.

But most of us know him for his appearances at the Guinness Six Nations Championship. His debut came in 2007 when he was the ref between England V Italy. It would be a big year for Nigel, making his debut at the Rugby World Cup at the match between Argentina and Georgia. in 2013, he became the most-appointed Welsh referee at international level; then in 2014 he became the most-appointed referee at European Rugby Champions Cup/Heineken Cup level.

On November 2020, Nigel refereed his 100th international match during the Autumn Nations Cup, becoming the first referee to reach the landmark. But just two weeks later, he announced his immediate retirement from international duty.

NIGEL OWENS IN THE MEDIA

Since retiring from international duty, Nigel has become a familiar face and voice on our television screens. He has presented the Welsh language chat shows Jonathan (2020) and Bwrw’r Bar, as well as the quiz show Munud i Fynd.

He has also made appearances on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs (2017), Question Time (2021), and on BBC Radio 5 Live. He owns a cattle farm in his home village and was featured as a guest star in a 2021 episode of Countryfile.

He is also a very familiar voice commentating on rugby matches, including the Six Nations and World Cup championships.

He has published three books to date: his autobiography Half Time was released in 2009, followed by Derek and Nigel in 2018. In 2022, he released his follow-up autobiography, Nigel Owens: The Final Whistle. It was an immediate success, appearing on Amazon’s “Rugby Union” and “Rugby Player Biographies” bestseller lists.

See highlight clips from Nigel Owens refereeing career:

NIGEL OWENS | MENTAL HEALTH & BULLYING

Throughout his rugby career and beyond, Nigel has been a huge advocate for mental health and wellbeing, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community.

In 2007, Nigel publicly came out as gay in an interview with Wales on Sunday, becoming the first openly gay man in professional rugby, at the time. “It’s such a big taboo to be gay in my line of work, I had to think very hard about it because I didn’t want to jeopardise my career. Coming out was very difficult and I tried to live with who I really was for years. I knew I was ‘different’ from my late teens, but I was just living a lie.”

His bravery in coming out, and his continuous campaigning work in equality, inclusiveness, and mental health has seen him named the Gay Sports Personality of the Year, and Gay Sports Personality of the Decade by the gay rights group Stonewall. He was the patron of the LGBT Centre of Excellence Wales until its disbandment in 2012. He is also a patron of Bullies Out charity in Wales, helping children who are suffering from bullying.

NIGEL OWENS – SPEAKING TOPICS

– Decision Making Under Pressure

– Rugby

– Refereeing

– Mental Health

– Being Yourself

– Leadership: Learning From Sport and Life

– Teamwork and Diversity

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