Welsh rugby referee, Nigel Owens, has become the first gay man to oversee a rugby world cup final match.

Openly gay man, Nigel Owens has made history this week – when he refereed the final bout between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup.

Hours after Owens was praised for how he handled the match, he was handed the World Rugby Referee Award at the World Rugby Awards.

The best @rugbyworldcup ever. Credit to all the teams, players, spectators, organisers, and the wonderful volunteers who gave their time.

— Nigel Owens (@Nigelrefowens) November 1, 2015

Owens first came out in 2007, and has received his share of homophobic verbal abuse. Speaking about his decision to come out, he said, “It’s such a big taboo to be gay in my line of work, I had to think very hard about it because I didn’t want to jeopardise my career.

“Coming out was very difficult and I tried to live with who I really was for years. I knew I was ‘different’ from my late teens, but I was just living a lie.”