England vs France referee (Twickenham Stadium, London; Saturday 11 March – 4.45pm)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
Having started officiating in 2008 at the age of 19, Ben is already approaching 150 first class matches, refereeing internationals at major tournaments from the Six Nations to the World Cup.
Ben kindly gave up his Saturday morning to talk to the team at Acme Whistles to reveal all!
Who’s the best player you’ve ever refereed?
That’s a tough one as there’s a lot of pretty awesome players I’ve refereed. We always have to build a relationship with captains and so for me it’s those players that I really remember as great players maybe not necessarily because scoring tries, but because they’re really commanding on the pitch, and they challenge you respectfully. Players that come to mind are Rory Best the Ireland hooker; Guilhem Guirado was great; Alun Wyn Jones for Wales has been fantastic; and then there’s Siya Kolisi whose come onto the scene in the last few years. It’s those guys that as a referee I remember as the greatest players.Embed from Getty Images//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/1062995740?et=IdCT9vRqRjdekaNmR2Itvg&tld=co.uk&sig=sdzu8W8gqO9cYEPaEWo6UoEKipOfmJ5fbY6pXjGTd0A=&caption=true&ver=2
Who is the toughest player you’ve ever refereed?
I think like Ma’a Nonu, yeah he was pretty tough. I’ve noticed over the last few years that players are just a lot bigger, a lot faster and a lot stronger.
I trained with the Highlanders pre-season one year and you get a real appreciation of how big, fit and hard they hit. That just remind me why I just I love referring – so I don’t have to take those big hits 😉.
If you were to take three things to a desert island, what would they be?
I’d definitely take the unlimited supply of water, Uber Eats would be quite handy, and obviously friends and family as well! Everything to eat, drink and have fun.
