#7: Ben O'Keeffe |The Reason Behind The Red Cards At The World Cup, Handling Pressure and Dealing With Shit From The Crowd

Ben O'Keeffe is a rugby union referee and ophthalmologist (eye doctor) from New Zealand. He referees at the domestic, super and test match level and was one of the assistant referees in this year's Rugby World Cup final in Japan. 

O'Keeffe became an official referee in 2013 and has since officiated 43 ITM Cup matches, 48 Super Rugby matches, 20 test matches and now this year took control of 4 World Cup matches. In this episode of the Rugby Bricks podcast, we chat Rugby World Cup 2019 and why it was the highest number of red cards ever handed out by referees, how Ben deals with being both a doctor and referee, handling the pressure of the players and dealing with the crap that comes from the crowd. 


In this episode, you'll learn what it looks like to deal with pressure in a surgical context of looking after patients' eyes through to taking the world stage and making some of the hardest decisions a referee can make. This is an episode for any players or coaches who need to learn how to better talk to the referee and make sure they're with you and not against you. 

So sit down, grab your notebook and get ready to study how the best referees in the world officiate and how you can make sure you're on the right side of the whistle.