Nigel Owens: The Final Whistle

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It is indeed a unique story. His autobiography sees Owens take readers behind the scenes as he talks about what it was really like to be in the middle during some of rugby's greatest matches, reveals details of conversations with players out on the pitch, meetings with coaches and gives a string of hilarious dressing room anecdotes.

Now, if he comes in and tries to go for the ball, but in doing so, because of the speed, his hand touches the ground around the ball, but that is not keeping his weight up, which means he’s supporting his own body weight, then we won’t necessarily penalise the hand touching the ground. It is something I'm looking forward to but also a bit of realisation that this could be my last Test match." Former international referee Nigel Owens has commented on the contentious decisions in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final between France and South Africa.And even when he was accepted as the best in the world he still struggled to get a contract with the WRU! Which, it turned out, was quite a lot. Somehow lost in the drama of the occasion was an error from New Zealand team manager Darren Shand, in charge of the replacements. When, on 43 minutes, hooker Andrew Hore was substituted, he was replaced by Dane Coles, not Keven Mealamu as the official team sheet stated. A simple administrative oversight, or a sly strategy designed to scupper the opposition? I told her I’d met Princess Anne, who is patron of the Scotland team, on a couple of occasions. She had been presented to the two sets of players and match officials on the pitch ahead of matches up at Murrayfield, and also at the World Cup event held at the Palace during my first visit there as part of a group of referees in 2015. It ended up with me genuinely asking, 'Do people really find these things that funny, because I certainly don't?' After a run of decisions against the police they left the pitch in a huff and had to be talked into finishing the game by being threatened with eviction from the league.

So that’s what the referee decides, the referee needs to decide was that hand supporting the body weight before he goes onto the ball? Saturday's match in Paris could also be his last in international rugby, with the 49-year-old planning to retire at the end of this season. That particular catchline even forms part of the title of Owens’ autobiography, ‘ The Final Whistle: This Is Not Soccer ’, which is published on Tuesday and which we are producing extracts from. This wasn’t something totally new, of course. Steve Walsh, a Kiwi whose contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union had been terminated, was offered a deal by the Australian Rugby Union and became a full-time referee with them for a few years. It’s something many people clearly share, that feeling that here is someone with no side to him, as they say: an open book, a referee who has been loved by players even when they’ve been on the losing side. Yes, the losing side.

We detail here just a small section of some of the ones Owens writes about in his new book: This is not soccer So what he can’t do is put his hands away or beyond the ball to support his body weight and then come on to the ball to gather it. Owens has become a household name thanks to his witty rapport with players on the field, as well as his media appearances away from it too. Most importantly, it was to take place under the Welsh Rugby Union banner, not England’s. I was really grateful to the RFU and Tony Spreadbury for listening to me, but deep down, as a proud Welshman who loved working for the WRU, I always wanted to remain in Wales for the next part of my journey.”