Watch: Joy Neville becomes the first woman to referee at top level of Irish club rugby
Joy Neville has became the first female referee to take charge of an Ulster Bank League Division 1A game, .
The former Irish international retired in 2013 after winning the Six Nations Grand Slam but before the end of the year she was back in her boots, as a referee.
In October she became the first woman to officiate in a European game, as assistant referee between Bath and Bristol in the Challenge Cup.
And yesterday Neville achieved a long-held dream by reffing a Division 1A game between last year’s finalists, Cork Con and Clontarf, at Temple Hill.
“I am nearly as ecstatic about doing that as I was when told about the European game,” Neville told the after hearing the news last month.
“Gender doesn’t come into it. I have never had an issue as a female.
“People just see you as doing a job. They aren’t worried if it's a man or a woman - they just want the right calls and decisions to be made.”
Our videographer David Keane was there to capture the action, with Cork Con the winners, 24-17.
