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Joy Neville

Date of birth	(1983-07-24) 24 July 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth	County Limerick
School	Salesian Secondary School
University	Limerick Institute of Technology
Rugby union career
Position(s) Back row/No.8 Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2002–09 Shannon () 2009–13 UL Bohemians () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 2003–13 Munster () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2003–13 Ireland 70 National sevens team Years Team Comps 200x– Ireland 7s Refereeing career Years Competition Apps 2013 Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup 2015– IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series 2016– All-Ireland League 2016– Serie A 2017– British and Irish Cup 2017– Excellence 2017– World Rugby Women's Sevens Series 2017– Welsh Premier Division 2017– European Rugby Challenge Cup 2018– Pro14 2016– Test Matches 2016– → Women's Six Nations Championship 2017– → Women's Rugby World Cup → 2017 final 2017– → Rugby Europe Conference

Joy Neville (born 24 July 1983) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ireland team to defeat France. In 2013 she was also a member of the first Ireland women's team to win the Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown titles.

After retiring as a player, Neville became a referee. She has taken charge of matches in the Women's Six Nations Championship, the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series and the Women's Rugby World Cup, including the 2017 final. In addition to refereeing women's rugby union, Neville has also achieved a number of firsts as a female referee in the men's game. In 2016 Neville served as an assistant referee for a European Rugby Challenge Cup game between Bath and Bristol, making her the first woman to officiate in a professional European rugby match.

In 2016, she became the first female referee to take charge of matches in the national leagues of Ireland, Wales and Italy as well as competitions such the British and Irish Cup, the European Rugby Challenge Cup and the Pro14. After taking charge of a match in the latter competition, she also become the first woman to referee a top-level men's rugby union match in the United Kingdom. After Alhambra Nievas, she also became the second woman to referee a men's international match when she took charge of a 2017–18 Rugby Europe Conference match. In 2017 Neville was also named World Rugby Referee of the Year.

Family

Joy Neville grew up in the North Circular Road district of Limerick. She was raised in a sporting family and had four brothers. Her father, Ger Neville, played rugby union for UL Bohemians. In 2006–07 her brother, Paul, captained Garryowen to an All-Ireland League, All-Ireland Cup and Munster Senior Cup treble. He also played for Connacht and the Ireland national rugby sevens team.

Playing career

Early years

Neville attended Salesian Secondary School where she played various sports including basketball, squash, association football, badminton and field hockey. She initially concentrated on basketball and she was a member of a Salesian Secondary School basketball team that won an All-Ireland schools league title. Neville was 16 and working at a local leisure centre when a colleague encouraged her to try women's rugby union. She subsequently started playing for Shannon, who at the time were the only Limerick club with a women's team. In 2009 she switched to UL Bohemians and would also go one to represent Munster, helping them win six Interprovincial titles.

Ireland international

Between 2003 and 2013, Neville made 70 appearances for the Ireland women's national rugby union team. She captained the team during the 2009 Women's Six Nations Championship, leading the Ireland women to their first win over France. Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In the 2010 tournament she scored four tries – two against the United States in a 22–12 win and two against Kazakhstan in a 37–3 win. She was also a member of the Ireland team that completed a Grand Slam and won the 2013 Women's Six Nations Championship. During her international career, Neville would also play for the Ireland women's national rugby sevens team.

Refereeing career

Early years

Between 2008 and 2012 Neville attended Limerick Institute of Technology where she completed a Bachelor's degree in social studies and social care. She also began to work as a director of rugby union at LIT, coaching both men's and women's team. After retiring as a player, Neville was approached by David McHugh, an IRFU referee performance officer, who invited her to become a referee. In December 2013 she took charge of her first game, an U15 friendly between St Munchin's College and CBC. She subsequently began refereeing Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup matches.

Women's competitions

By 2015 Neville was refereeing in the IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series. On 20 March 2016 Neville made her debut as an international referee when she took charge of a Women's Six Nations Championship between Wales and Italy. On 26 August 2017 Neville refereed the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup Final between New Zealand and England. She also served as a referee during the 2017–18 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series

Men's competitions

On 20 October 2016 Neville served as an assistant referee for a European Rugby Challenge Cup game between Bath and Bristol, making her the first woman to ever officiate in a professional European rugby match. On 12 November 2016 Neville became the first woman to take charge of an All-Ireland League match when she refereed a game between Cork Constitution and Clontarf. On 23 September 2017 Neville became the first woman to referee an Excellence match when she took charge of a fixture between Petrarca and Lazio. She had previously referee in the Serie A.

In October 2017, together with Andrew Brace, George Clancy and John Lacey, Neville was one of seven referees offered professional contracts by the IRFU. On 28 October 2017 Neville refereed a Rugby Europe Conference match between Norway and Denmark. This saw her become the second women, after Alhambra Nievas, to referee a men's international match. Nievas had refereed another match in the same competition two weeks earlier.

On 5 November 2017, Neville became the first woman to referee a Welsh Premier Division match when she took charge of a fixture between Pontypridd and Ebbw Vale. On 15 December 2017 Neville became the first woman to referee a European Rugby Challenge Cup match when she took charge of a 2017–18 pool stage fixture between Bordeaux-Bègles and Enisei-STM. This also saw Neville become the first women to referee a professional European rugby union match. In November 2017, Neville became only the second woman to win World Rugby Referee of the Year, after Alhambra Nievas, who won in 2016. On 9 February 2018 Neville became the first woman to referee a Pro14 match when she took charge of a 2017–18 fixture between Ulster and Southern Kings. This also saw Neville become the first women to referee a top-level men's rugby union match in the United Kingdom.

Neville became the first female television match official (TMO) for a top-level men's rugby union test when she officiated the Wales-Georgia test in the Autumn Nations Cup on 21 November 2020. She was scheduled to also be the TMO for the Scotland-Fiji game a week later, however this game was cancelled due to multiple COVID-19 cases in Fiji's team. Neville continued her TMO officiating of top-level men's rugby union tests and became the first female TMO in the men's Six Nations Championship when she officiated three games (England - Scotland, England - Italy, and England - France) in the 2021 season. At the 2023 Rugby World Cup Neville is set to become the first female TMO at a World Cup.

Personal life

Neville is openly gay. On 21 June 2015 she married her partner Simona Coppola, who is also from Limerick. Coppola works as a project manager for Intel. Neville has stated in interview that she is proud to represent the first country to pass a same-sex marriage referendum.

Honours

Ireland

• Women's Six Nations Championship
  • Winners: 2013
• Grand Slam
  • Winners: 2013
• Triple Crown
  • Winners: 2013

Munster

• IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series
  • Winners: ? 6

Individual

• World Rugby Referee of the Year
  • 2017
• Munster Rugby Referee of the Year
  • 2017
• People of the Year Awards – Sportsperson of the Year
  • 2018

Source:

References

1. ^ "Joy Neville named World Rugby Referee of the Year". RTE News. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
2. ^ "60 seconds with Joy Nevlle". www.irishtimes.com. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
3. ^ "Years of graft pay off as Joy Neville reaches the pinnacle". www.independent.ie. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
4. "Neville "Can't Wait" For Garryowen's French Adventure". www.irishrugby.ie. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
5. ^ "Interview – Joy Neville, International Rugby Referee". thelimerickmagazine.com. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
6. ^ "Seven Irish referees awarded with professional contracts". rugbyreferee.net. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
7. ^ "Joy Neville Announces Retirement". munsterrugby.ie. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
8. ^ "Joy Neville - From Women's World Cup Player To Referee". www.irishrugby.ie. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
9. "Women Secure First Ever Victory Over France". www.irishrugby.ie. 6 February 2009. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
10. "Neville: A Women's World Cup On Irish Soil Will Be Amazing". www.irishrugby.ie. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
11. "Ireland Women 22-12 US Women". news.bbc.co.uk. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
12. "Joy Neville". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
13. ^ "Joy Neville has been a mould-breaker all her life". www.independent.ie. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
14. ^ "Joy for Neville as she makes Euro history". www.epcrugby.com. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
15. "2015–16 Women's Interprovincial Series". www.irishrugby.ie. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
16. "Neville To Referee Her First Women's Six Nations Game". www.irishrugby.ie. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
17. "Former Ireland Captain Joy Neville to referee World Cup Final". ulsterrugby.com. 25 August 2017. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
18. "Women's Rugby World Cup 2017". www.rugbyworldcup.com. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
19. "Joy Neville To Referee In Women's Sevens World Series". www.irishrugby.ie. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
20. "Former Ireland captain Joy Neville made European rugby history last night". www.the42.ie. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
21. "Joy Neville breaking refereeing barriers after life on the pitch". www.irishtimes.com. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
22. "Joy Neville made her latest piece of Irish rugby history yesterday". www.the42.ie. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
23. "Rugby, Eccellenza: in Petrarca-Lazio la prima volta di una donna arbitro" (in Italian). www.repubblica.it. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
24. "Female referees Alhambra Nievas and Joy Neville to make history by taking charge of Men's Internationals". www.telegraph.co.uk. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
25. ^ "'Role model' Joy takes top refereeing honour". www.independent.ie. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
26. "Irish Referee Joy Neville Makes Another Piece Of Rugby History". www.balls.ie. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
27. "Destination Bordeaux As Joy Neville Set For Another Historic Milestone". www.irishrugby.ie. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
28. "Bordeaux-Bègles 36–27 Enisei-STM". www.epcrugby.com. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
29. "Joy for Ulster as Neville makes refereeing history". www.rte.ie. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
30. "Joy Neville makes history in Belfast by becoming the first female to referee a PRO14 game". www.independent.ie. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
31. "Joy Neville: Rugby union referee makes history". www.bbc.co.uk. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
32. Joy Neville: Former Ireland captain to be first female TMO for men's Test. (24 September 2020). BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 February 2020
33. Joy Neville helping to change perceptions as she creates history in Autumn Nations Cup (21 November 2020) World Rugby. Retrieved 15 February 2021
34. Joy Neville set for officiating milestone in November. (24 September 2020). RTE News. Retrieved 15 February 2020
35. Autumn Nations Cup: Scotland v Fiji cancelled amid Covid-19 case s. (20 November 2020). BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 February 2021
36. Scotland and Fiji's Autumn Nations Cup match cancelled. (20 November 2020). The Irish Times Retrieved 15 February 2020
37. Refereeing Appointments Announced for 2021 Guinness Six Nations. (23 December 2020). Six Nations Rugby.com. Retrieved 15 February 2021
38. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65548142. (10 May 2023). bbc.co.uk Retrieved 10 May 2023
39. "Joy Neville & Simona Coppola:Scrum-thing old, new, borrowed, blue". irishlgbtweddings.ie. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
40. "Joy Neville Honoured As World Rugby Referee Of The Year". www.irishrugby.ie. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
41. "Another prestigious award for Joy Neville as she's named Sports Person of the Year". www.the42.ie. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

• 1983 births
• Living people
• Irish female rugby union players
• Ireland women's international rugby union players
• Ireland international women's rugby sevens players
• Irish rugby sevens players
• Shannon RFC players
• UL Bohemians R.F.C. players
• Munster Rugby women's players
• Rugby union players from Limerick (city)
• Irish rugby union referees
• Women rugby union referees
• EPCR Challenge Cup referees
• Irish rugby union coaches
• Irish LGBTQ rugby union players
• IRFU referees
• United Rugby Championship referees
• Irish lesbian sportswomen
• Irish women referees and umpires
• 21st-century Irish sportswomen