Nigel Owens will become a Member of the Order of the British Empire after being named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
This tops a memorable last twelve months in which he refereed the World Cup Final, his sixth European cup final and comes just hours before he becomes the most capped referee when he officiates his 71st Test, Fiji v Tonga, later today/tomorrow (depending on your time zone).
The 44 year old from west Wales was appointed as an international referee in 2005, and that year officiated at his first tier 1 international between Ireland and Japan. His World Cup debut came with Argentina v Georgia in September 2007
He is also known as a TV personality, as one of the presenters of the Welsh language S4C chats shows Jonathan and Bwrw’r Bar. He is also a champion of both LGBT rights having become one of the most senior sportspeople to come out in 2007.
Many congratulations from the refereeing community!
