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Nigel Owens Explains Why Owen Farrell Was Lucky To Avoid Sin-Bin v Fiji

Nigel Owens Explains Why Owen Farrell Was Lucky To Avoid Sin-Bin v Fiji
Eoin Harrington
By Eoin Harrington
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There are few who know the ins and outs of the rugby rulebook better than former referee Nigel Owens.

The Welshman took charge of the 2015 Rugby World Cup final and seven European Cup finals over the course of his career, and became a beloved character in the rugby community for his dry wit when dealing with players speaking out of turn.

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Since retiring, Owens has taken on a role with World Rugby, offering comment on the major refereeing decisions of weekly action around the world.

The insight of Owens has been particularly welcome during the Rugby World Cup and, in his latest video for World Rugby, he explained why Owen Farrell should have been sin-binned in England's tight victory over Fiji in Sunday's quarter-final.

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Nigel Owens thinks Owen Farrell got away with incident in England v Fiji game

Owen Farrell's pre-tournament suspension was one of the biggest talking points in the lead-up to the World Cup, with the England captain red-carded in a warm-up game against Wales for a dangerous high tackle.

The Saracens out-half returned midway through the group stages for England, and was crucial in their nervy quarter-final win over Fiji in Marseille on Sunday afternoon.

Farrell contributed 20 of England's 30 points from the tee, as they got over the line in a six-point victory. Nigel Owens, however, believes that the England skipper should have been sent to the sin-bin late in the game.

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In the closing stages of the last eight tie, with Fiji chasing a try which would put them in a position to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Owen Farrell was penalised for a deliberate knock-on. Farrell's illegal interception came with Fiji looking to exploit an overlap down the right wing.

Nigel Owens explained in his latest video for World Rugby why Farrell should have been sin-binned in similar fashion to Aaron Smith in Saturday's quarter-final between New Zealand and Ireland:

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The way that this is refereed - because what we don't want is negative play, we don't want players to be sticking their arms out everywhere to prevent a pass. That takes away, then, from what we want - a positive, attacking game of rugby.

The referees will deal with this - if you're going for the ball with one hand and you do gather it, then well done. But if you go with one hand, or you weren't really in a position to attempt a genuine interception, to try and re-gather the possession of the ball, the referee will then feel...not necessarily that you deliberately knocked the ball on, but that there's no way you were in a position to re-gather that ball. Hence, we deal with it the same as if you were deliberately knocking the ball on.

For these instances, Aaron Smith and Owen Farrell, both of them - there was no way they were going to catch that ball. Which means: penalty and a yellow card.

Farrell remained on the pitch for the closing phases, as England saw off a closing drive from Fiji to clinch their place in the last four.

The England captain may have gotten a lucky break on Sunday, but his and the team's attention will now be firmly fixed on Saturday night, when they face South Africa in Paris. Kick-off is at 8pm Irish time.

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