Ben O’Keeffe discusses ‘clear forward pass’ and Super Rugby Pacific Final review

New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe has spoken out about some of the contentious decisions from the Super Rugby Pacific final after a 10-hour performance review.

The Crusaders won their seventh straight trophy, defeating the Chiefs 25-20 in the showpiece, with O’Keeffe admitting that it was not a flawless display.

The 34-year-old has already taken to social media to address the vile abuse he received after the game, including death threats on top of Chiefs‘ fans booing him during the medal ceremony.

10-hour review

In an unprecedented move, O’Keeffe gave insight into the review of his performance and explained how he missed one of the crucial decisions that played a role in the game’s outcome.

“I look at every single play in the game, pass, potential decision, potential non-decision, my positioning, the way I communicate,” O’Keeffe told sports radio station SENZ.

“It takes me probably a good 10 hours to go through the game, forward, rewind. I’m clipping, I’m coding, and really trying to find the detail. Because I want to give really good feedback to the coaches.”

O’Keeffe issued a yellow card to Luke Jacobson after repeated penalties in the first half, a decision the review panel told him was spot on.

However, he admitted that he missed the forward pass from Jack Goodhue before the lineout that Richie Mo’unga scored a try from.

Taking responsibility

O’Keeffe accepted responsibility for the mistake and refused to throw any of his assistants under the bus.

“That was a clear forward pass that we missed from the Crusaders. It’s my responsibility to get that,” he said before explaining how he missed it.

“What I actually noticed when I did my review is that I moved into the d-line (defensive line) as I transitioned. When the ball was passed behind me, I went in there too deep, so I was about four or five metres behind the d-line.

“We want to take half a step, get behind the d-line and as the defender comes through, you move back with the defender, so you can quickly get back into what’s a ball in line position, so you can get in line for those passes, and that’s something I didn’t do.”

Referee abuse

O’Keeffe says that young referees have reached out to him to thank him for speaking up against the abuse he has received, as they are getting similar abuse weekly.

“I feel really proud that I’ve had multiple younger referees, referees in community rugby in New Zealand, who have messaged me to thank me because they were starting to feel unsafe with the abuse they’ve been getting in the weekends, they were thinking about hanging up the whistle because what was happening to them in the middle of the field,” he said.

The official also confirmed that Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan reached out to him after the match despite taking a slight dig at the referee on the day of the final.

“I don’t want to bag the referee. The crowd did that at the end of the game; maybe that says something,” McMillan commented.

O’Keeffe told SENZ: “Clayton McMillan was excellent; he called me to see how I was, that was the first thing he wanted to worry about, nothing about the game, and I truly respect the man for doing that.”

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