Nigel Owens the closing speaker at 2021 Tyre Industry Conference

The 7th Tyre Industry Conference to be held at the ICC in Birmingham on Thursday 7 October 2021 (sponsored by GB Tyre UK Ltd in association with Linglong Tyres) will close-out with rugby union referee Nigel Owens speaking. According to the NTDA, Nigel Owens MBE is widely acknowledged as the best referee in rugby union. “His decision-making, approach to dealing with players, knowledge and interpretation of the rules is universally acclaimed by players, coaches and commentators”, the association stated in its announcement, adding: “He is also the sport’s only openly-gay official.”

First officiating on the international stage in a game between Ireland and Japan, Owens oversaw his first World Cup match two years later in France. At club level he took charge of two consecutive Heineken Cup finals (one of only two referees to do so) and has overseen more European matches than anyone else.

Privately, Nigel Owens struggled with conflicts between his sexuality and some of the attitudes in the world of rugby. Despite considering extreme courses of action, he eventually made his personal life public, despite some opposition, was “widely supported by figures within and outside of rugby”.

Away from the pitch Nigel has gone on to host chat shows and quiz programmes for the Welsh-language broadcaster S4C and is arguably rugby’s most famous referee.

Commenting on the choice of Owens for closing speaker, NTDA chief executive Stefan Hay said: “It is not often in life that one has the opportunity to meet a personal hero, so as a huge rugby fan, I am thrilled to have a legend like Nigel Owens close the conference this year. Nigel will be talking about the personal mental health hurdles he had to overcome and the skills required to make tough decisions with very tough characters as well as the traits needed to command during the chaos. Together with the other great speakers we are lining up, I can guarantee this is another NTDA conference not to be missed!”