Nigel Owens - a ref with a song and a laugh

Wandering West Walian

Nigel Owens is off to Lisbon for the World Cup Qualifier between Portugal and Morocco, a vital match for each country as they hope to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. He is a referee who has brought fun and pleasure to many - at least off the field!

The language he uses will be English, the first language for none of the three groups involved but now rugby's lingua franca. For Nigel is a West Walian, born, on 18 June 1971, in the small village of Mynyddcerrig with a population of about 150, about 10 miles from Llanelli. His home language is Welsh. He did not learn English till he went to school - Mynyddcerrig Primary School where there were only 17 pupils in the whole school. From there he went on to Gwendraeth Grammar School, whose Old Boys include Carwyn James, Gareth Davies and Jonathon Davies. Then after a year there, the education system changed and Nigel went to Maesyryrfa School which is a Welsh language school.

So those who speak Portuguese and Arabic will hear English with a distinctly Welsh lilt.

After school Nigel spent a year working as a farm hand till he went back to Maesyryrfa School to work as a technician in design and technology, which he did for 13 years till December 2001 when he became a full-time referee.

Being West Walian, he had rugby all around him and played full back at secondary school but started refereeing in 1987 when he was only 16 "to help out the school as my sports teacher the late Mr John Beynon  said I was no good as a player - and he was right". 14 years later he became a full-time referee. It was not a rapid process. Now he is on the International Rugby Board's merit list of 21 referes - one of the top 21 referes in the world.

Nigel joined the Llanelli and District Referees' Society whose chairman he has been for the last six years or so.

He has also refereed four Test matches, the final of the Hong Kong Sevens, the Under-21 World Cup, Heineken Cup and many other matches.

Highlights? "Under-21 World Championship semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand - What a match! - the final of the 2003 Hong Kong sevens between England and New Zealand - One of the best matches. It was awesome - and the Heineken Cup match last September between Leicester Tigers and Munster - the hardest game I have yet refereed." On 10 February he will referee his first Six Nations match - England vs Italy at Twickenham.

Enjoyed his career? "Refereeing has brought me a lot of pleasure and  I hope it will continue to do so for some years to come. I have seen parts of the world I would never have been to without refereeing and made some great friends from all over the world."

Help? "I have had a lot of help from so many people over the years and so wouldn't want to let anyone out by naming them far to many to mention."

Role Models? "Clive Norling and Derek Bevan in their time the best there was."

What he hopes to achieve as a referee? "My aim is to enjoy it and do my best and take whatever chance comes along - and repay the faith to the people that have helped me along the way."

Many around the world have been astonished when Nigel has been persuaded to sing and the rich Welsh tenor voice has burst forth.

He talks about it: "In my spare time I did and still do some stand-up comedy and singing in clubs  and venues in  Wales, as well as TV work as a presenter and comedian and various other different programmes if time and work allow. And no, I am not trained as a singer."

It is a lot about being Welsh.