Aurélie Groizeleau (born 27 February 1989) is a French rugby union referee 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 the first-ever women's rugby union test match against the Netherlands on 13 June 1982. They compete annually in the Women's Six ...

and five appearances for the

France women's national rugby sevens team France women's national rugby sevens team represents France in the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens, World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Summer Olympic Games. They are currently the 2023 European Champions; they were also cham ...

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 comfort ...

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 profes ...

league, and now officiates in the men's

Fédérale 1 The championnat de France de rugby à XV de 1re division fédérale (), a.k.a. Fédérale 1 (), is a French rugby union club competition, it is the elite of amateur rugby in France. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Français ...

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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

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 Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

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) is a French former international and professional rugby union referee who currently works as a discipline and refereeing advisor for the France national team. Originally from Béarn, France, he was a regul ...

. 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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. 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 featuring 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 contested by six European rugby union national teams. Matches were originally scheduled for February ...

, 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 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 Ir ...

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 featuring England women's national rugby union team, England, France women's national rugby union te ...

, 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 (, ; 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 professional leagues. History Before the FFR ...

(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 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

. In May 2022, Groizeleau was selected as a referee for the delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

. 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'') 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 Departments of France, department. Wi ...

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Chérente-Marine''; ) is a Departments of France, department in the French Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, on the country's west coast. Named after the river Charente (river), Charen ...

, and now lives in

Marans, Charente-Maritime Marans () is a Communes of France, commune in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department, Regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), southwestern France. It is connected to La ...

. 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 ...

; 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

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 Women rugby union referees French rugby union referees French women farmers 21st-century French farmers 21st-century women farmers France women's international rugby union players 21st-century French sportswomen