Fri 7 Feb 2014 | 11:32
Friday Funnies - Nigel Owens tells off Mike Brown and Yoann Huget

15
Comments

If there's one thing worse than being told that you're acting immature, it's being told when playing rugby, on TV and in front of millions of people. That's what happened to Mike Brown and Yoann Huget when they got in a tussle during Saturday's game in Paris.

Nigel Owens intervened, and while a lot of people don't like the way that he tends to command the spotlight at times, there's no doubting that he's one of the very best referees in world rugby.

It's no secret that Owens has dabbled in stand-up comedy in the past, so you can see that come through on the rugby field, most recently when he told off Leicester Tigers' Anthony Allen recently.

That post actually sparked one of the most entertaining comment/discussion threads on here in a while, so have a read through that if you have some time - there are some great stories from players who have been told off in weird and wonderful ways by referees.

On Saturday fullback Brown and wing Huget got into what could have been a bit of an incident, especially in this day and age with TMO's involved, slow-mo replays exaggerating things and commentators tending to overact occasionally.

In this situation Huget did push his head into Brown but it was innocuous at best, and Owens' handling of it was a breath of fresh air, and pretty funny too. "You finished? You're both acting very immature. Get on and get on with the game, both of you," he said as he diffused the tension.

There was actually a great moment with Wayne Barnes a few years back when he controlled two overzealous forwards with ease, reminding them of their place in the grand scheme of things. View that here - Wayne Barnes laying down the law to Corry and Borthwick

This is an official 6 Nations upload of the incident, showing it in full but with lower quality audio and no BBC commentary unfortunately. You do get to see a bit more of the build up on this one though.

15 Comments

  • drg
    3:17 AM 03/03/2014

    Pipe down know-it-all, become a top referee then criticise Nigel Owens.. until then remain in moronsville along with the belief that Faletau got his Wales nod at 7 years old because they knew his genetics were right...!

  • browner
    9:31 AM 14/02/2014

    Ooooops not anymore !!!!

  • browner
    9:30 AM 14/02/2014

    Ok for kids up to u16 IMO beyond that age avoid !!

  • arnaultus
    1:26 PM 08/02/2014

    Typical comment from a Brit :)
    Two eyes open mate - Brown gave the first and last push - not to mention the latter was straight on Huget's head.

  • eddie-g
    9:26 PM 07/02/2014

    Owens dealt with this perfectly. There was nothing much going on, and by saying what he did, Owens diffused any lingering tension.

    I think you make an important point about the slo-mo replays making incidents look worse than what they are - Francois Louw getting a yellow card against Wales in the autumn being a prime example. You slow something down enough, you can make nearly any coming together look like deliberate and serious foul play. This wasn't, and well done Owens for getting the call spot on.

  • drg
    7:13 PM 07/02/2014

    Jim, where'd you get that idea? The bookies have still got Wales tipped as the favourites... And why would France beating England mean that now they're going to win the whole 6N ???

    Handled it perfectly. It was a nothing disagreement and a card/penalty would have been extremely over the top.

  • colombes
    6:00 PM 07/02/2014

    Well. you achieved to combine 3 very weird conclusions.

    -The incident is a non-incident, soft "headbutt" vs slap in the face, who really care? Owens took the good decision to concentrate himslef on the game than on 2 spoiled brats
    -It changed the game? Nop
    -France is now favorite to win this 6N? Absolutely not.
    - Did u smoke Murrayfield grass? ;)

  • danknapp
    5:26 PM 07/02/2014

    Mr Owens showed the perfect way to respond to non-incidents like this. Just tell them to shut up and calm down. Perfect. Didn't need to go to the TMO. He used his judgement, which is almost always perfect, and let the game flow. It was pulsating, it didn't need a time-consuming TMO decision.

    I'm guessing Mr Owens saw it, saw it was nothing serious, and let the game flow. He had one of the best games on the day, as usual. The man is world class. I cannot believe someone can keep up with 30 professional athletes who are running around the field as much as that and still have enough oxygen getting to his brain to make decisions that effectively.

    I'd love to see the stats for referees during games - how far they run, what their heart rate does etc. It'd be really interesting.

  • stroudos
    5:21 PM 07/02/2014

    Superb picture. However, it really makes the incident look far worse than it was. For me, there was no actual headbutt; what you see on the photo is just a momentary squaring-up, with a soccer-style rubbing of heads.

  • tphillipsstl
    5:14 PM 07/02/2014

    "and because of that- France are now favourates to win the 6 nations." Wrong, wales are the favorite.

  • stroudos
    5:13 PM 07/02/2014

    @JimBrano

    Troll much???

    :)

  • finedisregard
    4:45 PM 07/02/2014

    Letting what go? That wasn't much of a head butt. Sending somebody off for a minor bit of head to head contact is out of proportion to such a non-event.

    When I ref kids' games and kids start getting chippy with each other I make the two players shake hands. Refs used to do this all the time and 4 out of 5 times it works to de-escalate. They still squeeze the hell out of the other guy's hand, the same way we used to though!

    Keep 30 guys on the field unless they leave you no option.

  • reality
    4:29 PM 07/02/2014

    I have to agree. It was the biggest non-incident I've ever seen and if Owens had done anything more than he did the match (and rugby in general) would have become a farce.

    Interesting analysis about the Ireland vs Wales match. I'm not sure if Ireland beating Wales and then beating France and England away is too realistic, or if Wales beating Ireland, England and France is too realistic, but I hope I'm wrong on that.

  • daluaine
    2:55 PM 07/02/2014

    I'm sure I heard another Owens classic during this match. Very faint and not picked up at the time but it was along the lines of "You have actually played this game before have you?"

  • yannoche
    2:52 PM 07/02/2014

    Great picture on scrums:
    http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-2014/rugby/image/213063.html?object=180658;page=2