Nigel Owens responds to fans’ confusion over bizarre Dan Biggar Wales jersey
Anyone who managed the Herculean feat of staying awake until the 55th minute of Wales’s match against England on Saturday, or managed to stick with the match without changing channel or opting to watch some paint dry instead, they would have seen something quite peculiar when Dan Biggar came off the bench.
The flyhalf was wearing a Wales jersey, but one without a number on it. Now some might have just assumed they were imagining things in a fever dream that can only be induced by the type of rugby England play, but plenty of others trusted their senses and began to question online why the back of Biggar’s shirt was numberless.
While we may not know the reason behind this, refereeing great Nigel Owens has shed some light as to whether it is allowed or not on his latest episode of Whistle Watch.
“As long as one player doesn’t have a number on the jersey, it’s fine because it’s easy to identify a player then because he was the one without a number,” the Welshman said. “So what you can’t have is two No2s on the field, two players without a number on their back, because if they were dealing with issues that meant the player needed to be penalised or sanctioned, then they can’t determine which one it was because all they can see is the back of the jersey with no number on it. So, with Dan Biggar with no number on his back, that doesn’t make a problem at all as long as it was just him in that game.”
Take a look at Owens’ response:
Biggar is set to start on the bench again this Saturday against England, and we all wait with baited breath to see if he has a number on his back again.
Wales senior men’s XV to play England at Twickenham Stadium, Saturday 12 August, KO 5.30pm (Live on Prime Video in english and welsh)
15. Liam Williams (Kubota Spears – 84 caps)
14. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 49 caps)
13. Joe Roberts (Scarlets – uncapped / heb gap)
12. Nick Tompkins (Saracens / Saraseniaid – 27 caps)
11. Tom Rogers (Scarlets – 2 caps)
10. Owen Williams (Ospreys / Gweilch – 7 caps)
9. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby/ Caerdydd – 46 caps)
1. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys /Gweilch – 21 caps)
2. Dewi Lake (Ospreys / Gweilch – 8 caps): captain / capten
3. Tomas Francis (Provence – 71 caps)
4. Rhys Davies (Ospreys / Gweilch – 2 caps)
5. Adam Beard (Ospreys / Gweilch– 46 caps)
6. Dan Lydiate (Dragons / Dreigiau – 69 caps)
7. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers / Caerlŷr – 9 caps)
8. Taine Plumtree (Scarlets – 1 cap)
Replacements
16. Sam Parry (Ospreys / Gweilch – 5 caps)
17. Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets – uncapped / heb gap)
18. Dillon Lewis (Harlequins – 50 caps)
19. Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs / Caerwysg – 6 caps)
20. Taine Basham (Dragons / Dreigiau – 11 caps)
21. Kieran Hardy (Scarlets – 17 caps)
22. Dan Biggar (Toulon – 108 caps)
23. Keiran Williams (Ospreys / Gweilch – uncapped / heb gap)
