Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ben James

'I'm not your childminder!' Female ref branded new Nigel Owens after cutting one-liners in Ospreys game

South African referee Aimee Barret-Theron has been dubbed the "new Nigel Owens" after an impressive debut performance in the United Rugby Championship.

Barret-Theron became the first South African woman to take charge of a URC game when she officiated the Ospreys' dramatic victory over Benetton in Treviso.

And her performance certainly caught the eye - not just for her decisions, but for her on-field quips too.

Premier Sports commentator Mark Robson was moved to call her the "new Nigel Owens" for the humorous way she handled the 29-26 thriller.

After a spot of pushing and shoving between players just before half-time, she joked: "I've come all this way to referee rugby, not be a childminder. You've got 10 minutes to sort it out."

After a couple of scrums went down, she offered a similar quip to the respective front-rows, telling them they'd spent all week training to play the game, "not play silly games".

On another occasion, Benetton fly-half Rhyno Smith had already kicked to touch once after Alex Cuthbert's high tackle - only for a TMO review to deem Cuthbert's infringement worthy of a yellow card.

That allowed Smith another chance to kick to touch, prompting Barret-Theron to say: "I think you can kick it further than that, what do you think?"

That saw Robson make his comparison, saying: "The new Nigel Owens.

"She's very funny. I like her - she's got a sense of humour."

His co-commentator, Thinus Delport, was also suitably impressed with how she had handled herself.

"For her first game on a really big stage, she's done well," he said.

"There's been a lot of niggle, but she's handled it and the pressure well. Really impressive."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.