Former Australia international Rod Kafer has kind of withdrawn his remarks about Nigel Owens' refereeing ability two days after Australia's defeat to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.
Kafer, on commentary duty for Fox Sports Australia during the Wallabies' 37-10 loss, claimed Owens should never be allowed to referee another game of rugby following his disallowing of a Henry Speight score at a crucial juncture of the Bledisloe Cup fixture.
The score was ruled out because Speight's team-mate Dane Haylett-Petty was adjudged by the TMO to have obstructed New Zealand's Julian Savea, thus preventing him from potentially making a try-saving tackle.
An aghast Kafer declared:
He’s been done by the crowd here, Nigel Owens. That’s shoulder to shoulder, he’s behind the ball, there’s no such thing as an obstruction.
Nigel Owens should never referee a Test match again, that is disgraceful.
He’s behind the ball, he can run where he likes. It was a crucial decision that absolutely changed the course of this Test match.
However, Chris Jones of the Evening Standard is reporting that Kafer now regrets his comments, saying:
I do regret saying that, because he has been a great servant to the game.
But I thought that his performance was very poor that night.
It may not have been Owens' finest game, but the Welshman remains one of the great officials not just in rugby, but in world sport. Kafer's frustration at the decision was understandable, but fair play to him for admitting that calls for Owens' excommunication were a tad over the top.
