Nigel Owens explains how the integrity of rugby was summed up with one David Pocock embrace

This is what rugby is all about.

Nigel Owens has come in for criticism for his refereeing of the Rugby World Cup final, particularly from the Australian media, but the Welsh official has revealed how one simple gesture from an Aussie player at full time helped him through the flak. Owens told WalesOnline: “As long as you look back at the game and think I did my best and gave it my all and none of the decisions that I made affected the game. “At the final whistle the first person to come up on Saturday didn’t even shake my hand. As we say in Wales he gave me a ‘cwtch’ [a cuddle]. “He put his hand around me and said thanks for a great game. That was David Pocock. “For someone who has just missed out on winning the Webb Ellis trophy to come up to do that says a lot about the integrity of man himself and what a wonderful sport rugby is.” We love hearing stories like this. Fair play.