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.
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