RateTheRef

I agree with most of what RCG has said but I didn't think Owens seemed quite his usual ebullient self yesterday.  He did nearly lose his temper though with the TMO  over the problem at the end about the apparent non stopping of the clock ("I am not interested in what happened 'technically' - was the clock stopped or not?").

I also found interesting the conversation with the TMO near the end about the high tackle by the Exeter player.  Owens seemed to be exploring reasons why he need not card the player, an attitude I found quite refreshing and one I would like to see more of by some referees who sometimes are too quick on the draw to produce a card in the round ball game.

Probably one of the most difficult recent finals to referee: Racing were always playing catch-up & their fly-half made too many critical errors leading directly to Exeter scores. That written, Racing matched Exeter & towards the end of the 2nd half Racing missed their chances to take advantage of Exeter having a player sin-binned. Had Racing won, I don't think Exeter could have quibbled. Racing will probably argue about a couple of Nigel's decisions but nobody can accuse Nigel of not being crystal-clear (although his French speaking skills could be improved!).

It's quite interesting to see how quickly the professional rugby union players complain about deliberate knock-ons but, generally, accept that head/neck collisions around tackles & breakdowns (especially collapsed rucks & mauls) are part of their game. Sometimes slow motion replays make things look worse. There were times in both halves when I wished RU would follow RL and turn the clock off between a scrum being awarded and the scrum-half putting the ball in - too many resets. 

C4's commentators were very good, especially as they were usually silent whilst Nigel was explaining. The best referees are usually the best communicators (which includes listening!).