Joy Neville (born on 24 July 1983) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and a current

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 ...

. 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 . In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

she was also a member of the first Ireland women's team to win the Six Nations,

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

and

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

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 The World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby sevens tournaments for women's national teams run by World Rugby. The inaugural series was held in 2012–13 as the successor to the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup held ...

and the

Women's Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official backing ...

, including the 2017 final. In addition to refereeing

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Rugby was originally a men's sport, and women's rugby has become p ...

, 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 The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

game between Bath and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, 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 Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

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 ...

as well as competitions such the British and Irish Cup, the

and the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. 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 The 2017–18 Rugby Europe Conference is the third-level rugby union competition below the premier Championship and Trophy competitions. It is the second Conference under its new format. After Czech Republic was promoted to the Trophy and Ukraine r ...

match. In 2017 Neville was also named

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

Referee of the Year.

Family

Joy Neville grew up in the

North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting ...

district of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. She was raised in a sporting family and had four brothers. Her father, Ger Neville, played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

and the

Ireland national rugby sevens team The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team is governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Ireland competes as a "core team" on the World Rugby Sevens Series, a competitio ...

Playing career

Early years

Neville attended Salesian Secondary School where she played various sports including

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

. 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

. She subsequently started playing for Shannon, who at the time were the only

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

, Neville made 70 appearances for the

Ireland women's national rugby union team The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA Wo ...

. She captained the team during the

2009 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2009 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2009 RBS Women's 6 Nations, was the eighth series of the rugby union Women's Six Nations Championship, due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland. England comfo ...

, leading the Ireland women to their first win over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in a 22–12 win and two against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

in a 37–3 win. She was also a member of the Ireland team that completed a

and won the

2013 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2013 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2013 RBS Women's Six Nations, due to the tournament been sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the annual women's rugby union competition. Matches were held ...

. 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 The Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Luimnigh) was an institute of technology, located in Limerick, Ireland. The institute had five campuses that were located in Limerick, Thurles, Clonmel, as well as a r ...

where she completed a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

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 The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and ...

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 The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is the women's equivalent of th ...

. On 20 March 2016 Neville made her debut as an international referee when she took charge of a

Women's Six Nations Championship The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition contested between six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the ...

between

and

. On 26 August 2017 Neville refereed the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup Final between

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 ...

and

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 ...

. She also served as a referee during the

2017–18 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series The 2017–18 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the sixth edition of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, global circuit for women's national rugby sevens teams, organised by World Rugby. There were five tournament events scheduled on the ...

Men's competitions

On 20 October 2016 Neville served as an assistant referee for a

game between Bath and

, 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 The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution'' newspaper. Since the paper did not publish on Sundays, the staff were lookin ...

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 Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

and

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. She had previously referee in the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

. In October 2017, together with

Andrew Brace Andrew Brace is a rugby union referee and former player. Born in Cardiff, Wales, Brace represents the Irish Rugby Football Union as a referee, and was an international player for Belgium. He has refereed matches in the Pro14, the European Rugby C ...

, George Clancy and John Lacey, Neville was one of seven referees offered professional contracts by the

. On 28 October 2017 Neville refereed a Rugby Europe Conference match between

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. 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 The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Compet ...

match when she took charge of a fixture between

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

and Ebbw Vale. On 15 December 2017 Neville became the first woman to referee a

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 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. On 9 February 2018 Neville became the first woman to referee a

match when she took charge of a 2017–18 fixture between

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

and

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They we ...

. This also saw Neville become the first women to referee a top-level men's rugby union match in the

. Neville became the first female

television match official 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 re ...

(TMO) for a top-level men's rugby union test when she officiated the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

test in the

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoiding extended travel due to the COVID- ...

on 21 November 2020. She was scheduled to also be the TMO for the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

- Fiji game a week later, however this game was cancelled due to multiple

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

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 (

- Scotland, England -

, and England -

) in the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

season.Refereeing Appointments Announced for 2021 Guinness Six Nations
(23 December 2020). Six Nations Rugby.com. Retrieved 15 February 2021

Personal life

Neville is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

. On 21 June 2015 she married her partner Simona Coppola, who is also from

. Coppola works as a project manager for

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

. Neville has stated in interview that she is proud to represent the first country to pass a same-sex marriage referendum.

Honours

;

**''Winners'':

**''Winners'': 2013 *

**''Winners'':

; Munster *

**''Winners'': ? 6 ;Individual *

Referee of the Year ** 2017 *

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster B ...

Referee of the Year ** 2017 *

People of the Year Awards The People of the Year Awards was an annual award show in Ireland. Organised by the Rehab Group, it was televised by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The Awards provided a unique opportunity for the Irish public to honour outstanding contrib ...

– Sportsperson of the Year ** 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, Joy 1983 births Living people Irish female rugby union players Ireland women's international rugby union players Ireland international women's 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 Female rugby union referees EPCR Challenge Cup referees Irish rugby union coaches Irish LGBT sportspeople IRFU referees United Rugby Championship referees Lesbian sportswomen LGBT rugby union players Irish women referees and umpires