Test rugby referee exposes cruel personal attack on him after Wallabies v Ireland clash
The referee who took charge of Australia's narrow loss to Ireland has shared a sample of the abuse he copped from rugby fans after the game.
Labelling several screenshots of the messages with the hashtag 'lovethegame', Ben O'Keeffe shone a light on the shocking behaviour top-level officials have grown accustomed to putting up with.
The messages via Instagram came after an 80-minute match which was bogged down by penalties and went for a little over two hours from go to whoa.
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Both sides made 12 penalty infringements, although Australia's were perhaps more noticeable given the propensity for neck rolls and the stoppages that came with them.
The Wallabies were pinged on four occasions for the transgression that ultimately starved Nic White of the opening try of the match for the Wallabies when Falou Fainga'a was yellow-carded.
Notwithstanding the constant stop-and-start nature of the contest, O'Keeffe's adjudication was, by and large, sound throughout.
A series of Instagram messages that Ben O'Keeffe shared after Australia's loss to Ireland in their Spring Tour Test. Sportsfile via Getty Images
Perhaps the most notable flaw came late in the piece when Stan Sport commentators noted an apparent knock-on by Ireland that would have handed possession to Australia.
In the end, it was Australia's own lack of discipline that cost them the win as they went down 13-10.
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However, that didn't stop some from taking to social media to fill O'Keeffe's inbox with abusive messages pinning the result on him.
One user said the referee had "actually destroyed people's dreams" while another called for him to hand up his whistle.
O'Keeffe's swathe of social media abuse comes after the Rugby Football Union implored South African Rugby to investigate Rassie Erasmus for posts he made on Twitter.
That came after claims that Wanye Barnes and his family had received death threats.
On November 17, the former South African coach and current director of rugby received a two-week ban by World Rugby for social media posts following the Springboks' loss to France.
Erasmus said that allegations his tweets had led to abuse of match officials were "totally unfounded" and that his posts were not aimed at the referee but at fans.
"Match officials are the backbone of the sport and without them there is no game," a World Rugby statement released following Erasmus' ban read.
"World Rugby condemns any public criticism of match official selection, performance or integrity, which undermines their role, the trust-based coach/match officials feedback process and the values of integrity, respect, solidarity and discipline that are at the heart of the sport."
Erasmus' ban will lift after the final match of the spring tour between South Africa and England at Twickenham on November 27.
Australia will play Wales on November 27 in Cardiff. Coverage of both matches will be live, ad-free and exclusively on Stan Sport.
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