Ben O’Keeffe has been named as the referee to take charge of England’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa on Saturday, despite the New Zealander receiving backlash from Antoine Dupont for his performance in France’s quarter-final defeat.
As we wade deeper into the business end of the tournament, only the world’s finest referees are given the honour of overseeing the remaining matches. That being said, O’Keeffe didn’t unanimously convince during the Springboks’ win over France on Sunday.
Rugby star Dupont was particularly critical, admitting after the game that the refereeing performance almost left him lost for words. “It’s hard to talk about things at the moment,” he said.
“But there were a few clear things that should have been blown that weren’t blown. I don’t want to be a bad loser and complain about the refereeing, but I’m not sure it was up to the mark tonight.”
England will need all the positive omens they can get ahead of their match against South Africa. And O’Keeffe’s appointment may be one of them, with the 34-year-old also taking charge of the Springboks’ pool stage defeat against Ireland.
The Kiwi has never overseen a World Cup semi-final, and rugby bosses’ choice was made simpler when fellow referee Jaco Peyper was struck down with an unfortunate injury during Wales’ loss to Argentina.
England star Mauro Itoje has discussed the tough task at hand, calling on his team-mates to take an aggressive approach when Saturday rolls around. “You have to attack it,” he said. “You have to attack every facet of the game.
“When you get to the semi-final level of World Cups, you are playing the higher‑quality teams and everything is a contest. Every scrum, every breakdown, every carry, every set piece, you have to make it a contest.
“Whoever wins the most contests will win the game. The build-up was just about being focused on us. We knew they were the No 1 team in the world but it was about what we were going to do and how we were going to play and how we were going to impose ourselves.”
England made it into the semis courtesy of a hard-fought victory over Fiji, with Steve Borthwick’s side now five wins from five since the tournament began last month.
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