Support structure helped Joy Neville earn historic RWC opportunity
Joy Neville has praised the support structures around Irish referees as she gets set to add another chapter to her already impressive World Cup story.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the Limerick native was to become the first female to officiate at a men’s Rugby World Cup after being named as a Television Match Official for this year’s edition of the tournament in France. Andrew Brace is also on board as a referee for the competition, while Chris Busby (assistant referee) and Brian MacNiece (TMO) complete a four-strong Ireland team.
Between refereeing and playing, Neville (a Six Nations Grand Slam winner with Ireland in 2013) has already featured at five World Cups across the 7s and 15s codes. This includes being in the middle for the 2017 Women’s World Cup final clash of New Zealand and England at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.
It was in October of the same year that she, Brace and Tipperary man John Lacey were amongst a group of seven referees to be awarded professional contracts by the IRFU. Along with the union’s Head of Referees Dudley Phillips, Lacey now has a big part to play behind the scenes in his current role as IRFU High Performance Referee Coach & Talent ID Manager.
“I’m sat here very happy and proud due to the fact that I’ve got here because of those support structures that we have. I think we’ve all been there for each other. I know we’re very unique to state that fact and I’m very happy to state that fact,” Neville explained at an event held in the Aviva Stadium on Monday.
“It’s funny because I went into the TMOing on the back of getting pregnant, and obviously not being able to be actively on the field. Whether in the middle or on the sideline. This opportunity came my way and I thought what a great chance to get there as a TMO and I’m thoroughly looking forward to it. It’s a massive honour for me and my family.”
Sitting alongside Neville at the top table in the Aviva’s press conference room on Monday, Brace outlined his own journey as a referee over the past decade.
Originally from Cardiff, Brace secured employment with Munster Rugby as a Community Rugby Officer back in 2010 and remained there until making the step up to full-time refereeing seven years later.
During this period at the southern province he worked alongside Lacey, who urged him to pick up the whistle and Brace eventually did so in a game between a Munster Development side and the Garryowen U20s in 2013. January of the following year saw him taking charge of a pool stage game between Gala and Leeds Carnegie in the British & Irish Cup in Scotland.
While the latter was a baptism of fire for Brace, he subsequently progressed to being an assistant referee at the 2019 World Cup and will take on an even greater responsibility in France this autumn.
“I was chasing shadows for a lot of the time there, but you learn a lot from those games. You take a lot from it and a lot of learning points for me was about putting that back into the next game. Whether you did a midweek game or a club game on the weekend, Johnny [Lacey] always said as many games as you can get, the better,” Brace said.
“I learnt that way, because you’re going to make mistakes and a lot of mistakes early on in every match. It’s about how you rectify them into the next game and develop as quickly as possible to really push on to the next level.”