Nick Knowles continues his war of words with Welsh rugby fans

Days after an astonishing outburst when he described the officiating of the Wales v Fiji game as ‘absolutely appalling’, TV presenter Nick Knowles has kept up his war of words with Wales fans.

In one of his latest posts on X, formerly Twitter, aimed at fans of Warren Gatland’s side, he posted: ‘Is there a more touchy fan base than the Welsh or is it all just the football fans pretending to be rugby fans for the duration of the World Cup?’

We do wonder how this statement will be viewed by Knowles’ Welsh side of his family, the TV presenter having cousins living n Hirwaun in the Cynon Valley.

His views unsurprisingly reignited a war of words with Welsh fans, who pointed out that he might be the touchy one, including this from Welsh comedian and co-host of the Socially Distant Sports Bar, Mike Bubbins.

…asked England’s touchiest bloke. 😁

— Mike Bubbins (@MikeBubbins) September 12, 2023

The X spat comes after the DIY SOS presenter posted on the social media platform following the Wales v Fiji game that he believed that a number of Wales offences were ignored by officials he also said that Fiji should launch an official complaint.

He didn’t hold back, writing: “Absolutely appalling officiating in this game – Fiji should launch an official complaint. Try line no arms tackle first half wales ignored, multiple try line offences Wales ignored, one offence Fiji carded. Officiating ruining this World Cup.”

Absolutely appalling officiating in this game – Fiji should launch an official complaint. Try line no arms tackle first half wales ignored, multiple try line offences Wales ignored, one offence Fiji carded. Officiating ruining this World Cup #WALvFIJ

— Nick Knowles (@MrNickKnowles) September 10, 2023

The astonishing rant against officials in a game that saw both sides yellow carded unsurprisingly caused quite the reaction on the social media platform – especially from Wales fans who took issue with the presenter’s scathing view of the refereeing – many pointing out he was only sore because Fiji beat England, and he couldn’t stand the idea of Wales winning.

Others pointed out that there were just as many offences from Fiji that were let go, in a ferocious game that was lauded as the best so far at the World Cup.

The ongoing debate online over refereeing at the World Cup has caused resulted in World Rugby stating it is concerned that supporters focusing on freeze frames of disciplinary incidents and seeing limited replay angles are leading to players and officials undergoing trial by social media.

And of course, the TV presenter, who has continually questioned the standard of refereeing at the tournament also had a view on this story.

World Rugby should be more concerned with ironing out inconsistencies in officiating rather than finding ways to stop fans clearly seeing the failure of the officiating process.
Not sorry we got it wrong but sorry you noticed we got it wrong – we’ll stop that happening 🙄 https://t.co/l5gji1yrhx

— Nick Knowles (@MrNickKnowles) September 14, 2023

It appears that the TV presenter’s X account is going to be a must visit throughout the World Cup – and we advise to those keen to take a look at Nick’s latest rugby-related posts to have a big bucket of popcorn handy.