Ben O'Keeffe (born 3 January 1989) is a rugby union referee from New Zealand. He currently referees at domestic,

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

and test match level.

Domestic career

O'Keeffe became a professional referee for the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) in 2013 having started officiating in 2008 at the age of 19. On 31 August 2013, he made his domestic debut during the

2013 ITM Cup Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

match between Auckland and Bay of Plenty. On 24 October 2015, he officiated the

2015 ITM Cup Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

Final between Canterbury and Auckland. In 2014, he started to appear at Super Rugby level as an assistant referee, before going on to be selected by World Rugby for the

2014 IRB Junior World Championship The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Auckland, New Zealand by rugby's governing body, World Rugby, then known as the Internation ...

. He made four appearances as the main official, one of which was the final between England and South Africa. He continued to referee at domestic level that year, before being selected for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

on 27 January 2015. He made his debut during the second round of the tournament, taking charge of the Highlanders vs Crusaders clash on 21 February as a late call up for injured referee

Chris Pollock Chris Pollock is a former rugby union referee who represented the New Zealand Rugby Union. In 2008, he was part of the IRB's touch judge panel. He made his international referee debut in 2005, when he refereed Niue vs Tahiti, while his first IR ...

. He was the man in the middle for the

Sunwolves The Sunwolves (Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or ...

Super Rugby debut on 27 February 2016. He was also one of the referees to officiate the

2016 Super Rugby Final The 2016 Super Rugby Final was played between the Hurricanes and the Lions. It was the 21st final in the Super Rugby competition's history and the first under the expanded 18-team format. The Hurricanes had qualified in first place of the log sta ...

between the Hurricanes and Lions which the Hurricanes won 20 - 3. O'Keefe, now a regular on the Super Rugby circuit, was appointed to referee the final of Super Rugby Aotearoa 2021 and inaugural Super Rugby Pacific in 2022 which he was credited for his handling of two controversial moments. After the 2023 Super Rugby Final he came under severe social media criticism which included death threats in which he posted a public statement against. This was well received and supported by numerous rugby organisations including New Zealand Rugby. He was recipient of New Zealand Referee of the year awards in 2018, 2021 and 2022. He was also rewarded in 2023 for refereeing 35 international test matches - making him the 2nd most capped New Zealand test match referee in history.

International career

On 18 July 2015 he made his international debut as an assistant referee, officiating in the first match of the

2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup The 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup (formerly known as the IRB Pacific Nations Cup), an annual international rugby union tournament. The 2015 title was contested between the Tier 2 n ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

vs Tonga. In 2016, O'Keeffe made his

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

debut on 7 February as assistant referee in the Ireland vs Wales match, then Italy vs England the following weekend. On 11 June 2016, O'Keeffe made his international refereeing debut, taking charge of the historic match between Samoa and Georgia which ended in a 19 all draw. The following week he officiated his first Tier 1 nation, refereeing Scotland's first test against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 18 June. He was appointed to his first Rugby Championship match in August 2016, as assistant referee when South Africa hosted Argentina. On 19 November 2016, he refereed his first Tier 1 v Tier 1 match, taking charge of Scotland's narrow win over Argentina in Edinburgh and now regularly referees both Six Nations and Rugby Championship tournaments. He was selected as the youngest referee at the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

in Japan and went on to referee three pool play games as well as assistant referee in the knock out stages. He was widely praised for his handling in the final pool match of the tournament; the historic 28-21 win by host nations Japan over Scotland. He then went on to be a match official in all play-off games including the final, England vs South Africa. O'Keeffe began his 2020 International refereeing campaign in the

2020 Six Nations Championship The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

, officiating both Italy vs Scotland and England vs Wales. O'Keeffe is now recognised as one of the top match officials globally and was selected to referee the 2nd test of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021 and the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

Personal life

O'Keeffe grew up in

Blenheim, New Zealand Blenheim ( ; mi, Waiharakeke) is the most populous town in the regions of New Zealand, region of Marlborough Region, Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of The surrounding Marlborough ...

and attended

Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough Boys' College is a state single-sex secondary school in Blenheim, New Zealand. The school was established as Marlborough High School in 1899 (renamed Marlborough College in 1919). The school its current form in was established in 1963 ...

where he was head boy in 2006. He then studied a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) at the University of Otago, graduating in 2012. He practises as a medical doctor in ophthalmology and is the co-founder of the social enterprise

oDocs Eye Care oDocs Eye Care is a New Zealand social enterprise. It was founded in 2014 by ophthalmologists Hong Sheng Chiong and Ben O'Keeffe in Wellington, New Zealand. The company sought to improve access to eye care by making affordable smartphone-based o ...

, which aims at creating medical technology to prevent blindness. O'Keeffe's brother, Michael O'Keeffe, represented New Zealand at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. After his football career ended, he became a sports presenter for Newshub. In 2023, Michael interviewed Ben before the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKeeffe, Ben 1989 births Living people New Zealand rugby union referees Super Rugby referees The Rugby Championship referees Rugby World Cup referees People from Blenheim, New Zealand People educated at Marlborough Boys' College