Looks like Leinster mightn’t have a referee for tonight’s match

Leinster are due to take on Llanelli Scarlets in the RaboDirect PRO12 tonight, but there mightn’t be a referee if Nigel Owens fails to make it to the RDS on time.

Owens is assigned to be the man in the middle for the clash that kicks off in Donnybrook at 7.35pm, but he might not make it in time if his Twitter page is anything to go by.

Earlier this morning, Owens posted a message saying that a flight from Cardiff was downgraded this morning and that he would be subsequently forced to look for another flight from Birmingham, thus jeopardising his arrival in Dublin later this evening.

Owens subsequently tweeted that he is due to catch a Ryanair flight from Bristol which departs at 3.10pm so he should make it in time, but any further hitches between now and then and he’ll be pushing it to make it to the RDS and get a good warm-up in before kick-off (Ryanair and Friday evening Dublin traffic being potential trouble spots).

There are of course, precautionary measures in place for this sort of thing and if Owens fails to make it, his designated assistants on the night, David Wilkinson or Stuart Gaffakin, or fourth official Ed Kenny would surely step into the breach.

At this stage Owens looks likely to make it, but we wouldn’t advise any of the players to test his patience on the pitch tonight, not with the day he’s having.