A Night With London Welsh Amateurs & Nigel Owens

Since starting Out On The Full I have had the pleasure of featuring and attending many events off the field and it is something that I love doing for it gives me an opportunity to meet some fantastic people and gain an insight into the different rugby communities across the country. A few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to attend evening event at Old Deer Park in aid of the London Welsh Amateurs, naturally I jumped at the chance and hot footed it across to Richmond after work. 

This year’s event followed the format of the inaugural 2013 evening ‘An Audience With’... 12 months ago Wayne Barnes and London Welsh's Club Captain Tom May featured and last Thursday it was the turn of Mr Nigel Owens. As we all know Nigel is a legend in the world of refereeing and after spending an evening in his company and hearing him speak it is easy to see why for he captivated us all with his wit and charm. From the first minute he had the whole audience in stitches and also has a superb singing voice, something that none of us expected find out!!!

Nigel & the London Welsh Womens Team

The purpose of the evening was to raise funds for the Amateur section of London Welsh RFC, it is a part of the Club that is absolutely thriving with 1200 members and teams across all age groups from Minis upwards. This year the Women’s side is celebrating its 30th year and on the night Nigel made a genuine promise to referee one of their games during the course of the season. This pledge wasn’t a hollow one said because it was the right thing to say, it was genuine and I believe that plans are in place to realise it over the coming months.

During the evening Nigel gave us an insight into how he started refereeing, he was given the opportunity by a teacher at his school to get out of detention and from that small window of opportunity grew the world’s best referee. It is same at every rugby club throughout the country, excluding the detention part, in that the amateur side of our game is providing the opportunity for individuals to try our great game and maybe one day develop into next Tom May or Emily Scarrett.   

Thursday evening brought together individuals from all areas of London Welsh from first team players, to supporters, to parents of the Minis and what struck me throughout the night was how close the community is at Old Deer Park. Yes, things might not be going according to plan results wise at the top however it doesn’t stop the club being as close as ever. It was an evening in the company of genuinely lovely people and once again highlighted to me the strength of the rugby community at all levels of the game.