#170 Joy Neville - Former Ireland Rugby International and Current IRFU Referee

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Today we spoke with Joy Neville - former Ireland women's rugby union international and current IRFU referee Joy 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, captaining the first Ireland team to defeat France in that period. After retiring as a player she took up being a referee. She has taken charge of matches in the Women's Six Nations Championship, the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series and the Rugby World Cup, including the 2017 final. Neville has also achieved a number of firsts as a female referee in the men's game - a Pro14 match when she took charge of a 2017-18 fixture between Ulster and the Southern Kings - wait for the story from that game! This also saw Neville become the first woman to referee a top-level men's rugby union match in the UK. She is professionally contracted with the IRFU, has been a TMO, and is based in Limerick. Today we spoke about her journey to being a ref from a player, what makes an excellent referee - and what the prep and post-game processes look like. We heard about the challenges of being a referee, finding a balance between home and work with travel, and her varied officiating roles. We explored how to counter doubt and mistakes - and her fundraising and giving back work. This one is inspiring...about embracing challenges!