Joy Neville to become first female official at men’s RWC

Joy Neville
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Ireland’s Joy Neville will become the first female to officiate at a men’s rugby World Cup later this year.

The former Ireland captain has been named as a television match official on the panel for the 2023 tournament, which begins in France in September.

Neville refereed the women’s World Cup final in 2017 and became the first female TMO for a top-level men’s Test match in 2020.

England’s Wayne Barnes will officiate at a record fifth straight World Cup.

Barnes, holder of the most Test appearances with 102, returns to the country in which he made his World Cup debut in 2007.

Theere are four New Zealand officials involved, including referees Ben O’Keefe and Paul Williams.

Meanwhile, Nika Amashukeli will make history as the first Georgian to officiate at a rugby World Cup.

Neville’s fellow TMO Ben Whitehouse, from Wales, will follow in the footsteps of his father Nigel, who was an assistant referee and TMO at the 2003 tournament.

A total of 26 match officials – 12 referees, seven assistant referees and seven TMOs – representing nine nations, with more than 630 Test appearances between them, will take charge of the 48 tournament matches throughout September and October.

Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Wayne Barnes (England), Nic Berry (Australia), Andrew Brace (Ireland), Matthew Carley (England), Karl Dickson (England), Angus Gardner (Australia), Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Luke Pearce (England), Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Mathieu Raynal (France) and Paul Williams (New Zealand).

Assistant Referees: Chris Busby (Ireland), Pierre Brousset (France), James Doleman (New Zealand), Craig Evans (Wales), Andrea Piardi (Italy), Christophe Ridley (England) and Jordan Way (Australia).

Television Match Officials: Brett Cronan (Australia), Tom Foley (England), Marius Jonker (South Africa), Brian MacNeice (Ireland), Joy Neville (Ireland), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand) and Ben Whitehouse (Wales).

-BBC