He is the one who crystallizes all the criticism. The decisions taken by New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe on Sunday during the quarter-final lost by France against South Africa (28-29) are controversial. Straight away, the Blues coach, Fabien Galthié, did not wish to comment on these choices. But French captain Antoine Dupont had put his feet in the problem. “Even if I don’t want to be bitter after a defeat, it must be recognized that the refereeing was not up to the task of such an event,” he said in the Stade de France amphitheater. There are decisions that may surprise you. But this observation in no way detracts from the merits of our opponent who played a superb match, we must congratulate him for that.”
Since then, the Kiwi, who will referee the second semi-final between South Africa and England on Saturday (9 p.m.), has been the target of violent cyberharassment on social networks. To the point of having deleted, on his Instagram account, the possibility of responding to his last post. But that did not prevent some angry supporters from flooding another of these posts, dating from the match between Japan and Argentina (27-39), with hateful messages.
“It’s obviously a very emotionally trying time,” O’Keeffe told New Zealand television NewsHub on Wednesday. “Players and coaches say things whether you win or lose. I know we are never perfect as referees, we certainly make mistakes in the game, he admits. But the comments that the players can make, they can do after the match. I’m sure everything is fine, we have done my exam and we will put things back in order. But I understand the (general) feeling after a big match like that.”
Already, after the Super Rugby 2023 final between the Chiefs and the Crusaders, he had been violently attacked by Chiefs supporters. He then published a response to his detractors, which he has since pinned to the top of his Instagram account (below).
Ben O’Keeffe explained at the time that “unfortunately, as a top referee, (he) has to accept and live with the vitriol that fans normalize after matches.” He added: “Referees are part of the game and we need the support of players and coaches to have the difficult conversations privately, and publicly support match officials – not criticize them. It will change the way fans treat us.”
Recognizing about this Super Rugby final that “there were some excellent decisions, and some bad ones that I accept I made and where I need to improve. Progressing is something that motivates me to be better. We need rugby to be the best sport in the world, on and off the field. Let’s do it together.” And to fear the worst: “I think back to the referee of the Europa League final walking through the airport and his family having chairs thrown at them. I hope my family is never subjected to this, but given the direction some fans are going in rugby now, I know we are closer to it than we have been. “This is one of many recent examples where someone has crossed the line towards a rugby match official.”
However, some Top 14 referees, former and still active, point the finger at the New Zealander’s errors. Notably the transformation of Thomas Ramos countered by Cheslin Kolbe. “The player must start behind his goal line and he already leaves with his foot on the line, so his starting position is illegal,” ex-referee Maxime Chalon underlines to RMC. Then, we clearly see, with other slow motion, that he goes up before the Frenchman starts his run-up. Moving the upper body is not enough to get the start, he must start his run-up backwards or forwards and this is not the case. According to him, “the transformation had to be redone with a charging ban this time. It is the rule !”
In the columns of L’Équipe, the winger of the Blues, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, was keen to clear the New Zealand referee. “We debriefed him a little. It’s true that some situations do not work out in our favor. But it is not over two or three small actions that we lose the match, he believes. The refereeing was not with us but we were too imprecise in certain areas. It may be the last straw, but the vase was already full.”
SEE ALSO – Vitinha’s splendid goal during Rennes-PSG on October 8 (1-3)
