Patric Denis O'Brien (born 19 July 1959), commonly known as Paddy O'Brien, is a New Zealand international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

referee, and former head of the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

's Referee Board. He was born in Southland, New Zealand. He played his rugby as a full back and wing for Southland at Under 18 and B level, as well as Sevens, between 1976 and 1984.

Refereeing career

O'Brien began refereeing with the Southland Referees Association in 1984 and combined that with 17 years in the New Zealand Police before turning professional in 1996 with his first game in the

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. He took charge of his first test match on 23 October 1994 with the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

qualifier between

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, which Korea won 28–17. He also officiated matches of the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

, including the deciding third test on their 2001 tour to Australia. He became New Zealand's most capped

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

official on 29 March 2003 when he officiated the Six Nations encounter between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for his 27th test, taking him past Dave Bishop's record. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, O'Brien was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to rugby as a referee.

IRB administration

In 2007, O'Brien, in his capacity as

Chief of Officials, defended criticism of the refereeing of

Wayne Barnes Wayne Barnes (born 20 April 1979) is a retired English international rugby union referee. He was a frequent referee in the English Premiership, and refereed games in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. At international level, Bar ...

in the France versus New Zealand quarterfinal. Commenting on death threats made against Barnes he said "I think it's a disgrace and people have to grow up." He also accused the coach of the United States team, Peter Thorburn, of lying when Thorburn stated that there had been a pre-tournament directive that touch judges should not interfere in issues like forward passes. O'Brien later apologised to Thorburn. In November 2009, O'Brien publicly apologised to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

with regards to the refereeing performance of

Stuart Dickinson Stuart Dickinson (born 19 July 1968) is an Australian former Rugby union referee. Dickinson has refereed in many rugby competitions, including the Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations, Six Nations, international friendlies, Super 12/14/15, and Shut ...

during an international match against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He subsequently issued a public apology to both Dickinson and the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a ...

for his breach of IRB protocol in making his comments public rather than going through official channels for commenting on referee performance. During the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

O'Brien publicly defended referee Alain Rolland's decision to issue Captain

Sam Warburton Sam Kennedy Warburton (born 5 October 1988), is a Wales, Welsh former international rugby union player. Warburton played rugby for Cardiff Rugby and was first capped for Wales national rugby union team, Wales in 2009. He usually played as an F ...

a straight red card during their semi final match against France stating "Alain Rolland's decision to issue a red card was absolutely correct in law and in keeping with the clear instructions that match officials have received in recent years regarding dangerous tackling." In May 2012 he was released as head of the Referee Board and substituted by a commission of four members

Political career

O'Brien was elected to the Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT) in 2016 and re-elected in 2019, topping the poll both times. He was speculated as a potential candidate in the 2019 Invercargill mayoral election but decided against it while not ruling out the possibility of a future mayoral run. Following the resignation of deputy mayor Toni Biddle from the Invercargill City Council, O'Brien announced his intent to contest the resulting by-election. On 3 December he pulled out of the race. In 2022, he was re-elected to the ILT, topping the poll once again. He was subsequently appointed president, replacing the retiring Alan Dennis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Paddy 1959 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby union referees New Zealand police officers New Zealand people of Irish descent Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit World Rugby Awards winners Rugby World Cup referees Super Rugby referees Six Nations Championship referees The Rugby Championship referees Invercargill Licensing Trust Board members