Nigel Owens says Boks vs All Blacks is rugby’s toughest test to ref

Accomplished Welsh referee Nigel Owens has said that when the Springboks come up against the All Blacks, it is the toughest game of rugby to referee.

Owens will take charge of the rivals’ clash in this year’s Rugby Championship in Wellington on September 15.

In a column for Wales Onlinewebsite, Owens wrote “I remember Derek Bevan, one of Wales’ greatest referees, once telling me that New Zealand against South Africa is the toughest game you will take charge of – and he wasn’t wrong.It is a clash of two Goliaths, two huge rugby countries and rugby cultures.”

Owens was behind the whistle in last years 57-0 onslaught from the All Blacks, as well as the clash at Ellis Park in 2013, which he described as his most memorable fixture involving the two sides, where the All Blacks emerged  38-27 victors.

Of the clash Owens said“It’s a match that has been talked of as one of the greatest games of rugby played, with many pundits, coaches and players past and present even calling it the game of the century. To have played a part in that, a small part, is something I will always cherish and never forget.”