Ireland get familiar face to referee for opening Six Nations clash with England

Ireland will have their 'lucky' referee for the opening 2025 Six Nations game against England at the Aviva on February 2nd.

New Zealander Ben O'Keefe will be middle, fondly remembered by Ireland fans as the referee who handled Ireland RWC 2023 pool win over the Springboks.

Despite playing against a heavier pack and having to meet the challenge posed by Springboks' SEVEN-ONE Bomb Squad bench Ireland won 13-8, prospering at the breakdown and, significantly, winning the penalty count 9-11.

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How good was that against the best pack in the world for the previous six years and a clear attempt to dominate physically, to bully?

Outstanding, yes, but it needed a referee capable of holding his nerve in the face of muscle trying to outsmart the rulebook

Almost miraculously, given the 'Boks lost, not even Rassie Erasmus had any complaints!

"Congrats to the Irish and sorry. We will just work harder and make you proud! Also nice to be involved in a game so intense and physical without the referee getting too much involved! Well done Ben and your team.Thank you for all the support was really lekka !! (maar hartseer)." tweeted Erasmus.

Jacques Nienaber added: "Yeah, we can still win (the tournament), obviously you have to believe, we’re in this competition to win it. Teams that lose a game in the pool stages must work hard to get out of the pool, so definitely we can still win it.

“We played against the number one team in the world and we lost by five points and we had opportunity in the 79th minute to get a result.”

O'Keeffe handles Ireland's opener with England, fellow Kiwi James Doleman takes the second up game in Scotland.

England's Christophe Ridley is in charge of Ireland's third game, in Wales. South African Angus Gardner takes the home match with France and England's Luke Pearce the final game in Italy.

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