{"id":606905,"date":"2026-05-27T16:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T16:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/606905\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T16:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T16:29:11","slug":"ben-okeeffes-verdict-on-controversial-france-springboks-world-cup-quarter-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/606905\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben O’Keeffe’s verdict on controversial France-Springboks World Cup quarter-final"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a>New Zealand referee Ben O\u2019Keeffe remains proud of his performance in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final between France and the Springboks despite the brutal backlash.<\/p>\n

The tournament hosts faced off against the defending champions in the last eight fixture, and it produced one of the greatest matches in World Cup<\/a> history, with South Africa<\/a> emerging as 29-28 victors to progress to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

However, the result did not come without controversy, with referee O\u2019Keeffe<\/a> fielding the brunt of the backlash for several crucial decisions throughout the game.<\/p>\n

Eben Etzebeth famously denied France<\/a> a try by slapping a pass near his tryline, which the officiating team deemed to have crucially gone backwards.<\/p>\n

Cheslin Kolbe also charged down a Thomas Ramos\u2019 conversion, and many believe the South African started his run before the Frenchman began his approach to the kick, while there were also suspected head collisions that went unpunished: Pieter-Steph du Toit on Jonathan Danty and Damian Penaud on Etzebeth.<\/p>\n

Late in the second half, O\u2019Keeffe also awarded a penalty after Kwagga Smith went in for a steal, but many believe he did so illegally as the Springbok had his hand on the ground when doing so.<\/p>\n

Backlash from Antoine Dupont and O\u2019Keeffe\u2019s verdict<\/p>\n

After the defeat, France skipper Antoine Dupont hit out at the officiating<\/a>, saying: \u201cI don\u2019t want to sound bitter, moaning about the refereeing because we lost the match, but I\u2019m not sure the refereeing was up to the challenge.\u201d And the captain\u2019s remarks only fueled the online criticism of the officials.<\/p>\n

However, O\u2019Keeffe says that he is still \u2018proud\u2019 of his performance that night and has learnt throughout his career to handle the pressure and criticism that come with the high-profile matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s that old saying that pressure is a privilege,\u201d he told the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe more high-profile games you do, the more in the headlines you\u2019re going to be; you see that with multiple referees. We\u2019ve had Wayne Barnes, Jaco Peyper, Nic Berry, and Craig Joubert. All the biggest games you do, the closer they are, the tighter the margins are, so you have these moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike going from the first Test in that Lions series in South Africa to having to referee the second Test after everything that came out in the media after the first Test and obviously the Super Rugby 2023 final.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I won\u2019t forget that year because there was a lot after that because it was a very tight game again, some tough calls in that game as well and then going from I think the biggest one for me is that World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a quarter-final where you have the host nation [France] versus South Africa, and probably one of the best first halves of rugby I have ever been involved in. I loved being a part of it. But then you get a game which is 28-29, and a team loses by one point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben O\u2019Keeffe reacts to Antoine Dupont\u2019s criticism after France\u2019s Rugby World Cup defeat<\/a><\/p>\n

The aftermath<\/p>\n

While the reaction from the quarter-finals continued the following week, O\u2019Keeffe\u2019s attention turned to reviewing his performance<\/a> and then preparing for the next biggest game of his career, the semi-final between England and South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cReferees go through reviews, the coaches, public, and the nation go through reviews as well. So they go through it in a bit of detail,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, we get a lot of decisions right in the game technically or for the game as well, but we also make errors. I\u2019m still proud of how I refereed that game, especially with some of the decisions that we had to make, and believe I was the right person to referee it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interesting thing was all the aftermath that happened afterwards, and World Rugby trusted me to do the next biggest game of my career, which was the semi-final of the World Cup \u2013 England versus South Africa, the week after.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018They stole our World Cup\u2019 \u2013 France star wants revenge against \u2018complete\u2019 Springboks<\/a><\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWhat I found difficult in the days following was the trial by media that happened afterwards, emotionally charged and fair enough as well, a nation had just been knocked out of a World Cup, which is probably the biggest games in the world that you do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe review goes on, you reflect on the review, and there are a lot of questions. I remember being in public and just walking to the gym with my referee colleagues, and people were videoing me. My sister came through customs, and she was asked if she was related to me. She didn\u2019t know anything about what was going on; she was just there to support me. So she said yes and wondered why she got a bit of a funny look.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sort of dealing with it in a week where normally you spend the whole week preparing for your next big game. It was a big week, a big learning experience, and I loved being able to get onto that field. I had some good processes that looked after me that week, and then when I was warming up and leading into the game, I went out there and refereed England, South Africa, and did a really good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

France v Springboks: The greatest game in a decade that changed laws, led to brutal backlash and crushed a nation\u2019s hearts<\/a><\/p>\n

Being remembered for France-Springboks quarter-final<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keeffe\u2019s name will forever be synonymous with that game in many circles, but the New Zealander states that he accepts it and does not allow it to factor into his performances in big games.<\/p>\n

He pointed to Wayne Barne as an example, as the Englishman was renowned for his handling of the 2007 World Cup quarter-final between France and the All Blacks, when he missed a forward pass in the build-up to a try for the former, who went on to win the match.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

That decision stuck with Barnes throughout his career, and O\u2019Keeffe believes that France-South Africa is that game for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not scared of that at all,\u201d he said when asked if he fears being defined by one decision or game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s probably already happened with the games I\u2019ve done. Over in France, they\u2019ll remember me for that quarter-final; I\u2019ll never be able to shake that. I\u2019ll be remembered for different games over here [in New Zealand] as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo of the best teams in the world really put it on that day. So, it was a pleasure to be part of. For me, though, who is Wayne Barnes? What decision is he synonymous with? And for me, it\u2019s actually being one of the greatest referees in the modern era to actually bring our game forward in our group. He was our leader for many, many years, and I saw him referee some of the top games in the world, like the best that anyone ever could.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople choose to remember you for certain decisions, but I think a lot of people will remember you for really great decisions as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0All Blacks star\u2019s sabbatical turns into nightmare as surgery rules him out of Springboks tour<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand referee Ben O\u2019Keeffe remains proud of his performance in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[184383,819,348,3482,50,5903,8631,4247,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-606905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-ben-o","tag-france","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-world-cup","tag-south-africa","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}