Aurélie Groizeleau (born 27 February 1989) is a French

rugby union referee Rugby union match officials are responsible for enforcing the rugby union laws of the game during a match and imposing sanctions on individuals who do not follow the rules. "Every match is under the control of match officials who consist of the r ...

and former player, who has officiated at international level since 2018. As a player, she made five appearances for the

France women's national rugby union team The France women's national rugby union team represents France in women's international rugby union. They played their first international in 1982 against the Netherlands. History ''Source: "Des Filles en Ovalie", Éditions Atlantica (2005), W ...

and five appearances for the

France women's national rugby sevens team France women's national rugby sevens team was champion of Europe in 2007 (European Women's Sevens Championship). They competed at the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, their qualification being determined by their placement in the 2016–17 World Rug ...

Playing career

At club level, Groizeleau played for . She made five appearances for the

, and five appearances for the

. In 2007, Groizeleau suffered a serious injury that later forced her to retire from playing rugby, at the age of 19. Before her injury, Groizeleau had been hoping to represent France at the

2008 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2008 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2008 RBS Women's 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the seventh series of the rugby union Women's Six Nations Championship. England comforta ...

Officiating career

Groizeleau started officiating at the age of 21. She was initially an assistant referee, before becoming a main referee. She started her career in the men's

Fédérale 2 Fédérale 2 is a rugby union club championship division in France. It is the sixth division of rugby above Fédérale 3. Teams can earn promotion to Fédérale 1, and subsequently, to the National 2 and Nationale leagues, and on to the professi ...

league, and now officiates in the men's

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 2 ...

and

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

leagues, as well as the French women's Premier Division. She also officiates

Rugby Europe Women's Sevens The Rugby Europe Women's Sevens, previously the FIRA–AER Women's Sevens until 2013, is a series of regional championships for women's international rugby sevens in Europe. Prior to 2012, the annual tournament is held over two days, typically ...

rugby sevens matches. When she started officiating rugby union matches, she was one of four fully qualified French female referees. Groizeleau is coached by French male referee

Jérôme Garcès Jérôme Garcès (born 24 October 1973, in Pau) is a French rugby union referee who regularly officiates high-profile club matches in tournaments such as Pro14, Top 14 and the Heineken Cup. He made his first full international appearance in 20 ...

. In 2016, Groizeleau officiated an under-20s match between France and England. In November 2017, Groizeleau was the assistant referee for two matches between France and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. In November 2018, Groizeleau officiated her first international rugby match, between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Groizeleau was chosen to officiate at the

2019 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2019 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between six European rugby union national teams. Matches were held in February and March 2019, on the ...

; her first match in the competition was the March 2019 match between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Italy. At the time of her appointment, she was one of six female international referees. She was selected as an official for the

2020 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 19th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between six European rugby union national teams. Matches were originally scheduled for February and ...

, initially for two matches as main referee, and two matches as assistant referee. Later in the year, she was chosen to referee a match between France and England, after Irish official

Joy Neville Joy Neville (born on 24 July 1983) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and a current rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captaine ...

was injured. Groizeleau was selected as an official for the

2021 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The 2021 tournament was given a change ...

, for two matches as main referee, and one match as an assistant referee. On 1 September 2021, Groizeleau signed a semi-professional contract with the

French Rugby Federation The French Rugby Federation (french: Fédération Française de Rugby (''FFR'')) is the governing body for rugby union in France. It is responsible for the French national team and the Ligue nationale de rugby that administers the country's profe ...

(FFR). That month, she officiated two matches in the 2021 Rugby World Cup qualifying European tournament in Italy. In October 2021, Groizeleau started officiating in the men's Rugby Pro D2. In May 2022, Groizeleau was selected as a referee for the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup. She was selected as an assistant referee for the 2021 Rugby World Cup Final.

Personal life

Groizeleau is from

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

, and now lives in

Marans, Charente-Maritime Marans () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), southwestern France. It is connected to La Rochelle by the Canal de Marans à La Rochelle. The inhabita ...

. Aside from rugby, Groizeleau works as a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

; she breeds almost 7,000 pairs of pigeons at her parents' house. Groizeleau spends three hours a week studying English. Her partner is a rugby union assistant referee in the men's Rugby Pro D2 and Fédérale 1 leagues. Groizeleau has one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groizeleau, Aurelie Sportspeople from La Rochelle Living people French female rugby union players French women referees and umpires 1989 births Female rugby union referees French rugby union referees French farmers French women farmers 21st-century French farmers 21st-century women farmers France women's international rugby union players