 Owens officiating a 2016 United Rugby Championship match | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Nigel Owens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 18 June 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mynyddcerrig, Carmarthenshire, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Rugby union referee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nigel Owens, MBE (born 18 June 1971) is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He previously held the world record for the most test matches refereed[1] and is one of five international referees listed as professional within the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans, Adam Jones, Dan Jones and Ben Whitehouse.[2] He is widely considered to be one of the greatest rugby referees of all time.
Owens is also known as a television personality, as one of the presenters of the S4C Welsh language chat shows Jonathan and Bwrw'r Bar ('Hitting the Bar'). Owens also hosts his own quiz programme Munud i Fynd ('A Minute to Go'). At the 2011 Eisteddfod Genelaethol, he was made a member of the Gorsedd of Bards.
- ^ "Wales v New Zealand referee Wayne Barnes: His 100th match, the 'f***ing cheat' incident and a fine career". Wales Online. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ "International Referees". Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions. Retrieved 19 January 2021.