Following backlash surrounding the competence of referees and inconsistencies in contact laws, referee Ben O’Keeffe has been lauded for his efforts in the Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final.
A record-breaking amount of red and yellow cards were dished out across the 2022 season, with five coming from the semi-finals alone.
However, no players were sent to the bin on Saturday evening, prompting praise for O’Keeffe’s efforts to allow play to continue and use common sense while judging potential foul play incidents.
Wow. Two entirely reasonable calls from Ben O'Keeffe.
— CarrickTalksRugby (@TalksRugby) June 18, 2022
Great to see.#BLUvCRU
SENZ Bunnings Trade Rugby Run co-host Riccardo Ball said, “I don’t think he made a bad call,” while discussing the match officiating with former players Justin Marshall and Dan Bowden, who both mirrored Ball’s sentiments.
“I thought he did really well,” Bowden said in response to Ball’s statement.
“The first couple of collisions I thought, ‘Oh here we go, this is going to be a yellow card and then another yellow card,’ and we were just going to be robbed of a good contest.
“To be fair to him, the pressure was on him because if you look at that week before, the semi-final against the Brumbies, there was a pretty contentious decision in the last 50 seconds of play where he maybe let it go.
“So I think the finger was pointed at him well and truly during the week, and to give him credit, he stood up.
“I thought the contest was pretty good, considering, for a final.”
Marshall, who has been vocal on the topic in recent weeks, also shared praise for O’Keeffe, saying his refereeing was “outstanding on the night.”
“I totally agree, and it really warmed my heart to see a referee understanding how a player feels when a player gets caught in a compromised position in contact where they’re not intentionally trying to collide heads with somebody,”
“I thought that Ben O’Keeffe was outstanding on the night.”
While the Grand Final was seemingly a step in the right direction, more must be done in the off-season to ensure players and referees are on the same page concerning dangerous collisions and player welfare.