Appointment of criticised referee to be welcomed by both England and SA, says Erasmus

PRESLES COURCELLES, France : The appointment of referee Ben O’Keeffe for a second successive South Africa knockout game at the World Cup will be welcomed by their semi-final opponents England as well, Springboks Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus said on Tuesday.

The New Zealand official was jeered off, and criticised afterwards by France captain Antoine Dupont, for his officiating on Sunday, as South Africa narrowly edged the hosts 29-28 in the quarter-final with several marginal decisions going the Springboks' way.

World Rugby raised eyebrows earlier on Tuesday by naming O’Keeffe to handle Saturday’s semi-final, but Erasmus said it was not unprecedented to have the same referee three times in a World Cup.

The 34-year-old O’Keeffe was also in charge when the Boks lost to Ireland in their pool game.

“We also had Jerome Garces as our referee for the opening game of the last World Cup, and then the semi-final and final as well,” Erasmus told a press conference near their team base on the outskirts of Paris.

O’Keeffe has yet to officiate England at this tournament, but Erasmus felt this would offer neither side any favours.

"I guess it's a bit of an unknown, either positive or negative. It will be best for the team that stays within the laws and hopefully doesn’t have rugby accidents, causing cards, although I think that's one thing that Ben has really done well, and I think (England coach Steve) Borthwick will be as pleased if he referees the game like that again.”

Erasmus said England posed a massive “pothole or roadblock” in South Africa’s way as they hope to defend their title in the final on Oct. 28.

“They are unbeaten in the tournament and have stuck to their guns and kept believing in what they were doing under Borthwick and