Benjamin Dennis O'Keeffe (born 3 January 1989) is a rugby union referee from New Zealand. He currently referees at

domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...

Super Rugby 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 ...

and test match level and holds the record for most first-class games, Super Rugby and test matches officiated by a New Zealand referee.

Domestic career

O'Keeffe became a professional referee for the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it b ...

(NZRU) in 2013 having started officiating in 2008 at the age of 19. On 31 August 2013, he made his domestic debut during the

2013 ITM Cup The 2013 ITM Cup season was the eighth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on 15 August, when Counties Manukau (National Provincial Championship), Counties Man ...

match between

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

. On 24 October 2015, he officiated the

2015 ITM Cup The 2015 ITM Cup season was the tenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 13, when Southland hosted Auckland. It involved the top fourteen rugby uni ...

Final between

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and Auckland. In 2014, he started to appear at Super Rugby level as an assistant referee, before going on to be selected by

World Rugby 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 ...

for the

2014 IRB Junior World Championship The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Auckland, New Zealand by rugby's governing body, World Rugby, then known as the Internatio ...

. He made four appearances as the main official, one of which was the final between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He continued to referee at domestic level that year, before being selected for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

on 27 January 2015. He made his debut during the second round of the tournament, taking charge of the Highlanders vs

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

clash on 21 February as a late call up for injured referee

Chris Pollock Chris Pollock is a former rugby union referee who represented the New Zealand Rugby Union. In 2008, he was part of the IRB's touch judge panel. He made his international referee debut in 2005, when he refereed Niue vs Tahiti, while his first I ...

. He was the man in the middle for the

Sunwolves The Sunwolves ( Japanese: ) – previously known as the HITO-Communications Sunwolves for sponsorship reasons – were a professional rugby union team and Japan's representative team in SANZAAR's international Super Rugby competition. The team w ...

Super Rugby debut on 27 February 2016. O'Keeffe, now a regular on the Super Rugby circuit, was appointed to referee the final of Super Rugby Aotearoa 2021 and inaugural Super Rugby Pacific in 2022 which he was credited for his handling of two controversial moments. After the 2023 Super Rugby Final he came under severe social media criticism which included death threats in which he posted a public statement against. This was well received and supported by numerous rugby organisations including New Zealand Rugby. He was recipient of New Zealand Referee of the year awards in 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

International career

On 18 July 2015 he made his international debut as an assistant referee, officiating in the first match of the

2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup The 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup (formerly known as the IRB Pacific Nations Cup), an annual international rugby union tournament. The 2015 title was contested between the Tier 2 n ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

.In 2016, O'Keeffe made his

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

debut on 7 February as assistant referee in the Ireland vs Wales match, then Italy vs England the following weekend. On 11 June 2016, O'Keeffe made his international refereeing debut, taking charge of the historic match between

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

which ended in a 19 all draw. The following week he officiated his first Tier 1 nation, refereeing

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

's first test against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on 18 June. He was appointed to his first Rugby Championship match in August 2016, as assistant referee when

hosted

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. On 19 November 2016, he refereed his first Tier 1 v Tier 1 match, taking charge of Scotland's narrow win over Argentina in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and now regularly referees both Six Nations and Rugby Championship tournaments. He was selected as the youngest referee at the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

in Japan and went on to referee three pool play games as well as assistant referee in the knock out stages. He was widely praised for his handling in the final pool match of the tournament; the historic 28-21 win by host nations Japan over Scotland. He then went on to be a match official in all play-off games including the final, England vs South Africa. O'Keeffe began his 2020 International refereeing campaign in the

2020 Six Nations Championship The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England ...

, officiating both Italy vs Scotland and England vs Wales.O'Keeffe is now recognised as one of the top match officials globally and was selected to referee the second test of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021 and the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France refereeing the quarter and semi finals. In 2024 O'Keeffe become the most capped New Zealand referee and successfully now holds the record for most first class games, super rugby games and test matches officiated by a New Zealander. He refereed his 50th and record test match when he held the whistle in the 2025 6 Nations fixture between Ireland and England.

Personal life

O'Keeffe grew up in

Blenheim, New Zealand Blenheim ( ; ) is the most populous town in the regions of New Zealand, region of Marlborough Region, Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an estimated population of as of The surrounding Marlborough wi ...

and attended

Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough Boys' College is a state single-sex secondary school in Blenheim, New Zealand. The school was established as Marlborough High School in 1899 (renamed Marlborough College in 1919). The school in its current form was established in 1963 ...

where he was head boy in 2006. He then studied a

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

(MB ChB) at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, graduating in 2012, still practicing as a medical doctor between refereeing duties. O'Keeffe's brother, Michael O'Keeffe, represented New Zealand at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. Using his rugby and medical background, he is an advocate for campaigns like Mind Set Engage as an ambassador to support mental health and well-being in rugby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKeeffe, Ben 1989 births Living people New Zealand rugby union referees Super Rugby referees The Rugby Championship referees Rugby World Cup referees People from Blenheim, New Zealand People educated at Marlborough Boys' College