Tahs happy with 'transparency' over referee blunders
New Zealand referee Ben O'Keeffe had a shocker, to say the least, when the Crusaders came from 0-29 down to beat the Waratahs 31-29 last week.
Top of his list of blunders was when he overlooked (or missed) the blatant elbow from All Black Joe Moody to the jaw of Kurtley Beale – an offence that resulted in an equally ridiculous two-weeks ban for the Kiwi.
The Kiwi referee, O'Keeffe – who has been at the centre of several controversies this season – escaped sanction.
He will be in charge of another New Zealand versus Australia (Hurricanes versus Reds) Supper Rugby encounter this coming weekend.
The oversights in the match by all officials in the Waratahs versus Crusaders match generated debate around the establishment of a neutral match referee, or at least one foreign match official.
All four officials in the match were from New Zealand.
The Tahs coach, Gibson, contacted SANZAAR referees boss Lyndon Bray in the wake of last week's controversy.
Gibson spoke of the "excellent transparency" by SANZAAR in the wake of the blow-out.
"We've had really positive correspondence with the referees boss Lyndon and the referee himself and I'm really happy with that process," the Tahs coach told the media.
"It's been a good one.
"We certainly don't blame the referee for anything that went on in the game and we're still kicking ourselves around, as we felt that if we had better control of that game, we should've come out with a better result.
"There's lots of transparency between the referees and the coaches and I've got no issue with that."
