{"id":642991,"date":"2026-06-17T06:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T06:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/642991\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T06:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T06:03:10","slug":"ranked-the-10-worst-rugby-refereeing-decisions-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/642991\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranked! The 10 worst rugby refereeing decisions of all time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Referees are an essential part of rugby, but some decisions live far longer in the memory than any try, tackle or trophy lift.<\/p>\n<p>From World Cup heartbreak to Lions drama, these are the moments that sparked outrage, divided fans and left supporters arguing long after the final whistle.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/channel\/AbYd2l05pp1bM_Ix\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Join RUCK\u2019s Instagram broadcast channel\u00a0<\/a>and get the latest rugby news straight to your phone.<\/p>\n<p>10. Ben O\u2019Keeffe\u2019s Breakdown Calls<\/p>\n<p>France v South Africa (2023 Rugby World Cup Quarter-Final)<\/p>\n<p>One of the greatest matches ever played also produced one of the biggest refereeing controversies of the professional era. French supporters were left furious by several breakdown decisions made by\u00a0Ben O\u2019Keeffe\u00a0as South Africa edged a thrilling one-point victory.<\/p>\n<p>9. Sam Warburton\u2019s Red Card<\/p>\n<p>Wales v France (2011 Rugby World Cup Semi-Final)<\/p>\n<p>With Wales chasing their first World Cup final appearance since 1987, captain\u00a0Sam Warburton\u00a0was sent off after just 18 minutes by referee\u00a0Alain Rolland\u00a0for a dangerous tackle on Vincent Clerc.<\/p>\n<p>The decision remains one of the most debated red cards in rugby history.<\/p>\n<p>8. The Lions\u2019 Phantom Penalty<\/p>\n<p>South Africa v British &amp; Irish Lions (1974)<\/p>\n<p>The legendary unbeaten Lions tour featured plenty of controversy, but few moments caused as much debate as a crucial penalty decision that helped shape the outcome of the series.<\/p>\n<p>More than 50 years later, South African fans still dispute the call.<\/p>\n<p>7. The Greatest Try Never Scored<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand v Wales (1978)<\/p>\n<p>Welsh supporters remain convinced they were denied one of the greatest tries rugby has ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>With the line at their mercy, New Zealand lock\u00a0Andy Haden\u00a0intervened in controversial fashion, preventing a score that many believe should have stood.<\/p>\n<p>6. The 2017 Lions Series Decider<\/p>\n<p>The final moments of the drawn third Test between New Zealand and the British &amp; Irish Lions remain one of rugby\u2019s strangest refereeing moments.<\/p>\n<p>Referee\u00a0Romain Poite\u00a0initially awarded the All Blacks a match-winning penalty after a mistake from Lions hooker\u00a0Ken Owens.<\/p>\n<p>After consulting his assistants, Poite remarkably reversed the decision and awarded a scrum instead, allowing the Lions to secure a historic drawn series.<\/p>\n<p>CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Referees are an essential part of rugby, but some decisions live far longer in the memory than any&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-642991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642991","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=642991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}