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 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Neville captained the first Ireland team to defeat . In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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 The World Rugby SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for Naming rights, sponsorship reasons, 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 successo ...

and the

Women's Rugby World Cup The Women's 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 b ...

, 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. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...

, 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 i ...

game between

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, 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 (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

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 ...

as well as competitions such the

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009� ...

, 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. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the 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 match. In 2017 Neville was also named

World Rugby World Rugby is the 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 competit ...

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. It runs from Chiswick in the west to North Woolwich in the east via suburban north London, connecting var ...

district of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

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

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

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 or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

and the

Ireland national rugby sevens team The Ireland national rugby sevens team competed in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team was governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). In May 2025 the IRFU dismantled the programme at the end of the 2024/25 season, i ...

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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, squash,

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

and

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

. 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 Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, helping them win six Interprovincial titles.

Ireland international

Between

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 ...

. 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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Neville represented Ireland at both the

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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in a 22–12 win and two against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

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 The Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT; ) 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 regional learning centre in Ennis Enn ...

where she completed a

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

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 St. Munchin's College is a boys–only Roman Catholic secondary school in Limerick, Ireland. It was founded by The Most Reverend John G. Young (bishop), John Young, Bishop of Limerick in 1796. As of January 2020, a total of 657 boys were enrolle ...

and

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

. 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 ...

. 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 Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home ...

between

and

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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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. Five tournament events were scheduled on the 2017� ...

Men's competitions

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

game between

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 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 Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. She had previously referee in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. 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 Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. 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 Admiral 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. 2025–26 se ...

match when she took charge of a fixture between

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

and

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

. 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 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. 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 (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

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 w ...

. 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 laws of rugby union during a match. "Every match is under the control of match officials who consist of the referee and two touch judges or assistant referees." Further officials can be ...

(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 South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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 rugby union internationals, Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoidin ...

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. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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 The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

when she officiated three games (

- Scotland, England -

, and England -

) in the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

season. At the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

Neville is set to become the first female TMO at a World Cup.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65548142. (10 May 2023). bbc.co.uk Retrieved 10 May 2023

Personal life

Neville is

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

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

. Coppola works as a

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the Project planning, planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined star ...

for

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

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

Honours

;

**''Winners'':

* Grand Slam **''Winners'': 2013 * Triple Crown **''Winners'':

;

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

Referee of the Year ** 2017 *

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

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 contribu ...

– 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 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