Rugby referee Nigel Owens has defended his decision to have a word with Simon Zebo after his pre-try fingerpoint towards Ulster full-back Michael Lowry in Racing’s 44-12 win over the northern province last weekend.
Zebo ran in the fifth try of a 32-point victory in Paris but angered some of the Ulster players when he pointed his finger towards 20-year-old full-back Lowry prior to crossing the line.
Zebo apologised to both Owens and Lowry for his actions but Owens has since received criticism for talking to Zebo after the incident.
Simon Zebo taunts his opponent as he scores 👈
Nigel Owens isn't impressed 😡
Simon Zebo apologises 🙏Great refereeing @Nigelrefowens! pic.twitter.com/OoPjDJ2jLA
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 20, 2018
Former Ireland international Alan Quinlan said on OTB AM that Owens had no business in addressing Zebo over the incident and that those matters should be dealt with by the players while The Times columnist Tommy Conlon wrote that ‘rugby’s superego’ arrived on the scene when Owens addressed Zebo to ‘reassert the game’s incorrigible self-importance’.
Owens defended his decision to address Zebo and dismissed the notion that he had a super ego.
This report is NOT TRUE OR ACCURATE. Simon Zebo celebration after his try is not an issue at all & should never be an issue.PLEASE report accurately Tommy.A QUIET word was given for pointing on way to try line NOT the celebration after.A quiet word is not speaking down to someone https://t.co/ehDMD9soe1
— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) October 26, 2018
And also to call me pompous and with a big ego? All i was doing was doing my job in a quiet well mannered word which Simon has thanked me for doing by the way. It was no big deal. Its you that has made a big deal out of it. Why include the celebration and girls then?
— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) October 26, 2018
Super ego in an authoritarian voice? Teacher Style? Really? A quiet word and suggestion to apologise, not telling or forcing him to do just a suggestion to do so in a calm and quiet style is very different to super ego speaking down to someone in my humble opinion.
— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) October 26, 2018
This is not the first time Owens has angered former players through his on-field interactions with former Ireland and British & Irish Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald saying that Owens primary responsibility is to referee the game and not insert his personality on proceedings.
“I don’t like it personally,” Luke Fitzgerald said on his The Left Wing podcast last year.
“There was a clip with Cian Healy down in Thomond Park which I thought was a step too far. He shouldn’t be commentating on the game. His first focus is to make it a good spectacle, that he referees the game correctly.
“We’re heading into a dangerous territory for me. It’s a soccer thing, when you have everyone on the pitch talking to the referee, the referee trying to be too smart, trying to be friendly with the players
“I’d rather he just refereed the game well. The first job of the referee is to almost be anonymous and that’s the first duty for him.
"The hands out rule changed three years ago, where have you been?" – Nigel Owens to Cian Healy 😂😂 #anothernigelclassic
— Sarah McKenzie-Foley (@macktweets_) December 26, 2016
“He is taken seriously, he’s a brilliant referee, no doubt about that. I just think those kind of things are disappointing and it’s disrespectful to the players who are putting in a huge amount of effort.
“There’s no place for it in the game. You can’t actually speak back. It’s almost like a situation where someone is on a podium having a go at someone in the crowd. It’s wrong because there’s no platform to come back.”
