Nigel first picked up the referee whistle aged sixteen and officiated his first international game in 2005 between Ireland and Japan in Osaka. Since then, Nigel has refereed in four Rugby World Cups, and has officiated over a record seven Heineken Cup finals and over a record Six Pro 14 Cup finals and became the first referee to officiate 100 test matches.
Aside from refereeing, Nigel is a co-presenter on S4C's Jonathan – the rugby-themed Welsh language show hosted by Jonathan Davies. For his dedication to sport and good causes, Nigel was awarded an Honorary Doctorate at both Swansea and South Wales University and an Honorary Fellowship at both Cardiff Met University and Cardiff University and most recently an Honorary Doctorate at Bath university."
Nigel's autobiography was released in in Nov 2008, in Welsh called "Hanner Amser" (Half Time). With the English version released in 2009 which is still selling well today. He has just recently launched his second autobiography " The Final Whistle " in November 2022.
Since retiring from refereeing Nigel now runs a small farm of Pedigree Herefords in West Wales. The farm is around 90acres in total with renting a further 50 acres. The herd consists of around 75 Pedigree Herefords in total.
He worked on a dairy farm when he left school and since the age of 8 always wanted to be a farmer.
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