Ref caught in airline scrum

Rugby referee Nigel Owens is more used to dealing with fly-halfs than flight schedules, but yesterday he found himself wading, not for the first time, into the hotly-contested public relations scrum between Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

The Welsh referee was the man-in-the-middle at last night’s Pro-12 match between Leinster and Zebre in Dublin. But more than 12 hours earlier, he found himself in a ruck when he realised Ryanair required him to have his passport to fly.

“Help @Ryanair didn’t now (sic) I had to have passport to travel with u to Ireland. Stuck in Bristol Airport. refin Leinster v Zebre tonite,” he tweeted followed by “Nightmare. Have to drive home from Bristol Airport to get my passport cos @Ryanair won’t take ID like @AerLingus. Hold koff for me Leinster”.