14 May, 2023
Joy Neville
Ireland's Joy Neville has been selected to serve as the competition’s first female referee in the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
Neville, a former captain of Ireland's women's rugby team will work as a television assistant referee with in the World Cup which gets underway in September.
Neville, 39, officiated in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup final between England and New Zealand in Belfast and she also became the first television match Official (TMO) to referee a men's rugby Test match between Wales-Georgia in 2020.
For the 2023 Rugby World Cup, a panel of 26 judges have been chosen consisting of 12 referees, seven assistant referees and seven television referees.