Have discussed the matter with @bjlittle but thought I would draw attention to my concern for others to see here:
determining 'degrees' only to indicate rotated pole, not 'degree' as well (which I think it should).

Standard names table defines this as 'degree' not 'degrees', while the spec defines it as 'degrees'.

CF spec:
> The entries for these names in the standard name table indicate the appropriate sign conventions for the units of degrees.
No it doesn't, it specifies it as 'degree'