past simple in reported speech

[allthewayanime]

Hi everybody, can you help me with the following, please?

In my grammar book I have:
'That was the best ice cream soda I ever tasted', which in reported speech becomes- according to the keys to exercises I have - He said that that was the best ice-cream soda he had ever tasted.

Another one is 'That was a great game of golf', which becomes He said that that had been a great game of golf.

I can't see why in the first example was doesn't go back to had been, as the general rule shows... Is there an exception to the rule?

[5jj]

Native speakers often do not backshift the past simple to the past perfect. It is better for learners to backshift; it's always correct.