Nigel Owens spoke on the John Murray Show yesterday about his admiration for Paul O'Connell, describing him as a great man and great leader.
The Welsh referee, who gave that penalty against Ireland in the dying embers of the New Zealand match defended his decision saying 'As a referee, you've got to make those tough calls, but the right ones.'
Owens noted that more often than not the popular decision is not the right decision but he was surprised by how complimentary Irish fans were after the All Blacks game. He praised Irish captain Paul O'Connell for being so gracious in defeat.
'It tells you a lot about what a great man he is, what a great leader he is ... He thanked me for refereeing the game ... he had no issues whatsovever.
'Many a man would have stood up there and said something I thought to myself, what a great man he is and what great men we have in rugby and what a great sport rugby is.'
Owens also talked about how he how tried to kill himself while coming to terms with being gay:
'It was very difficult and dark time in my life really. And when I look back at it now, I just think to myself how fortunate I've been to get through that with the help of friends and through the help of rugby as well.'
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