Nigel Owens: My true feelings on the bunker system and why rugby needs to get serious

Wales Online

8 hours ago

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Those who will be watching the Lions this summer will have probably watched the game on Friday. I think some perhaps didn't know how good a side Argentina are, and how they've come along in the last 10 or 15 years. They really are a great, well-coached side now that have beaten some of the very best in the world.
So I wouldn't be reading too much into the result, as disappointing as it may have been, but the performance from the Lions was clearly a little bit rusty, and they've got a few weeks now to ramp up that first Test and get the combinations right.
At the moment there's a lot of talk about performances of different players. Captain Maro Itjoe probably wasn't at his usual best on the day.
As a player, I'd compare Itoje to a sort of Alun Wyn Jones-type. Of all those games he had for Wales, apart from maybe his final season, he was always consistent. Always a top performer and you'd very rarely hear, if ever actually, any comments about a below-par performance from him after a game. He will go down in my view as our greatest second row.
For me, Itoje is right up there with him, with the likes of your Paul O'Connells and your Martin Johnsons. Always consistent. Very, very rarely did you hear people having a go at them for having an off day.
But by his own standards last week, Itoje wasn't at his best, and it's probably the first time I've heard people talking about a below-par performance from him.
As the captain as well, hopefully it was a one-off and I'm sure he'll be back to his best and being the leader we all know he can be during the Tests. You need your skipper to be your talisman and I'm sure he'll get back to that against an Australian side that I think will surprise a few people. They're a talented team and they've got one of the shrewdest and most consistent top coaches in Joe Schmidt as well.
In terms of other performances, another that's a bit of a Marmite player with people is Henry Pollock. There's no doubting he's a quality player, but he brings a sort of showmanship to it. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Now, there's nothing wrong with that. It that's what makes you perform then great. But you've got to perform, because once you have an off day, everyone wanting to have a go for that showmanship will jump on that wagon.
In terms of the Welsh boys, Tomos Williams came on and did well, while Jac Morgan did decent enough, although no doubt more to come from him.
It's great, though, that we were all talking about the game and how good Argentina were, rather than talking about the refereeing. For what's worth, though, I thought James Doleman did a good job.
Let's just hope that it will be the same during this tour because it will be those three Tests that will matter.
Looking back to that first Test win over South Africa last time around, so much of the talk was about the refereeing and Rassie Erasmus' comments as well, which left a bit of a sour taste from an officiating point of view for the whole series.
That's not what we want in the game. As a referee, you just want to get on with it and ensure people are talking about a great game and not about you. That's the sign you've done your job.
For this series, there's Andrea Piardi, who did the URC final and did a pretty good job, to be fair to him.
Then there's the Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli, and obviously Ben O'Keefe. Three quality referees with plenty of experience overall - and they'll need it because the Lions is the same as the World Cup and Six Nations.
When you referee the summer Tests or the Autumn Internationals, no one takes much notice of the officiating. If you make a mistake or have a below-par performance, not much of a fuss is made about it.
But if you're in something like the Lions when the whole world is watching, you're scrutinised 10 times as much.
So there's a huge amount of pressure on you as a referee when you go into these games. For me, the referees just need to go out there and get it right when it matters. Get the big decisions bang on. Don't worry about the 50-50s, let the game flow.
I just hope at the end of the summer, all the talk is about a great series of rugby and not any controversies during it.
There's no doubt there will be some talking points, but I just hope it's minimal and we don't have a repeat of what happened after the first Test in South Africa, which doesn't do anybody any good, certainly not the game of rugby.
Of course, there's always something that brings about a big debate or something in the office on a Monday morning. Whether it be a try, a particular performance or indeed a refereeing decision.
One of the incidents that has been dissected this week has been Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's red card for England against France.
I've said in the past that I'm not a big fan of the bunker. I just think that if something's a red card, you'll know it's a red card and you should be down to 14 men for the rest of the game, not 20 minutes.
It just feels like the referee doesn't make the decision any more. It's given to someone in the bunker, who on most occasions haven't been anywhere near the field of an international game as a referee, and then he's got to make a decision on what could be a defining moment. Experience and ability is crucial for these big moments and that should be down to the referee on the day.
I feel the referee is there because he's the best person to do that job and he should be making that decision.
If I was refereeing and I wanted to decide if something was a yellow or a red, I'd be wanting to make that decision myself. I wouldn't want to pass that decision on to someone else.
It naturally becomes a talking point then. But for all the noise there's only one person to really blame - and that's the player.
You can't go in like that and make a tackle around someone's head or neck. There's no debate about that.
Players need to learn or change that behaviour to avoid making those tackles. If players change their behaviour and tackle down lower, then we wouldn't be having these discussions about officiating or the bunker.
I don't think the bunker has really prevented players from going in and committing those reckless tackles, either, and ultimately that's what we want.
If you want to be serious about it, then a red card should also mean a red card and. In my view, I still think the bans for players should be longer too. It shouldn't be reduced because someone says sorry, or because they agree to a tackling school with probably the same coach that was teaching them how to tackle before.
If we want to be serious about it, a six-week ban should be a six-week ban.