There is no game without the man in the middle, so it was awesome to get one of the best referees in the world, Ben O' Keeffe on What a Lad to give an insight into one of the hardest jobs in the world. 

Ben, who at the age of 32 has quickly gone through ranks and is now one of the best in the game. Having recently returned from the Lions tour of South Africa, he gives some great insight into the pressure involved in being in charge of a test match like that. He also gives great insight into what life as a top referee is like.

Rugby is such a tough game to referee as the rules are all so subjective. Yet, after almost every game played, if you read the comments they'll mainly be bagging the ref and his decisions. I hope this episode sheds some light into how difficult the job is and the fact that if you look at a game from one teams perspective there is always going to be missed calls.

As you'll hear, Ben is a great lad, who loves his rugby and wants to do his best for the game. I certainly learnt a lot from this episode and I hope you do too.

If you enjoy this one or you know someone who is always abusing the referees, then please share this podcast with them so they can understand what its's like out there in the middle.

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