Joy Neville: ‘Coping in a male-dominated world? I don’t know anything else’

Former Ireland women’s captain turned referee has had a remarkable rise, culminating in her beating the men to win the World Rugby Referee of the Year AwardJoy Neville never wanted to be a referee. The former Ireland rugby captain had only just retired – euphoric after winning the Six Nations in 2013 – and was planning some quality time with her family, when then IRFU’s referee development manager, David McHugh, called and asked if she would consider a career change.“Absolutely not,” came her reply, “I thought it was a thankless job.” But McHugh wouldn’t let it go. So Neville picked up the pho…