Rugby were left baffled why All Blacks flanker Scott Barrett did not get carded for this horrendous hit on Peter O’Mahony on Saturday.
Referee Karl Dickson did penalise Barrett for the incident, although he decided that it wasn’t worthy of a card as he thought the New Zealander made contact with O’Mahony’s body, and the TMO did not intervene.
“We don’t want to see this sort of behaviour in the game. It’s dangerous and we have to get it out of the game,” said Owens on his Youtube show Whistle Watch.
“I think it should have been a red card. You don’t want to see this type of action with Scott Barrett clearly going in with a shoulder to the neck and head area of Peter O’Mahony.
Meanwhile, Owens thought the yellow card given to Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit was very harsh/
“This was textbook defending from Louise Rees-Zammit. A very harsh penalty never-mind a yellow card in my view”
EDITORS PICKS
Nigel Owens snubs Sam Warburton and Jonny Wilkinson from his rugby dream team
Here, we look at the dream XV he selected for Wales Online:
BACK-THREE:
15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland), 14. Bryan Habana (South Africa), 11. Shane Williams (Wales)
Hogg: “How can you fail to be impressed when watching Hogg play. He’s so exciting.”
Williams: “He was in the mould of Gerald Davies in how he left defenders gasping for air as he beat them with those dazzling sidesteps.”
Habana: “Nobody would fancy defending against a back three of Shane, Hogg and Habana, I can tell you that.”
CENTRES:
13. Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), 12. Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)
Nonu: “He’s another brilliant player and after every game, win or lose, he would come up and give me a hug. Ma’a has always found time at after-match functions or at breakfast if we’ve been staying at the same hotel to come over and have a chat.”
O’Driscoll: “Not only is he one of the greatest centres in the history of rugby union but he’s a fantastic man off the field as well. O’Driscoll has been a wonderful ambassador for the sport and a real leader.”
