Footage Emerges Of Nigel Owens Overruling Medics Following ‘Dodgy’ HIA

Laying down the law.

Nigel Owens has been applauded far and wide for his commendable actions this past weekend as he took charge of the PRO14 clash between Edinburgh and Benetton.

Benetton tried to reintroduce hooker Engjel Makelara onto the field in the 70th minute – but the Welsh referee spotted something fishy going on and decided to intervene – which is well within his rights as referee according to the laws of the game.

The front-row was removed from the game seven minutes earlier after a poor tackle resulted in him taking a nasty knee to the head. Following that incident, Owens initially checked with the TMO to see if Makelara was guilty of foul play, telling the hooker:

“I’m checking for foul play against you but it is more important that you get checked first so that you are ok.”

When Owens spotted Makelara coming back on just seven minutes later however, he was far from impressed.

“Hang on a minute, boys, what’s going on here now?” Owens could be heard saying.

Owens then quizzed medics from both teams as the game was halted for several minutes.

“Has the HIA been done properly?” Owens says as they try to get to the bottom of it.

Eventually it was agreed that Makelara be removed from the pitch, with Owens heard saying “Thank you for your honour,” to the medics after they admitted their wrongdoing. He then approached the player and said:

“You’ll have to go back off because the app wasn’t working so it (the HIA) wasn’t done properly. It’s for your own safety and your own good.”

We’ve now got a hold of some footage from that incident – with the commentators also on the night doing themselves proud, thanks to Peter Robinson. Peter has been flying the flag for safety in rugby for some time now after his 14-year-old son Ben tragically died in a game.

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