RFU Appoints First Female Citing Commissioner

The Rugby Football Union is to appoint its first female Citing Commissioner, and the first in Europe, with Jilly Holroyd set to take up the role in the Greene King IPA Championship this season. 

Born in Bristol, Holroyd worked for the Welsh Rugby Union for five years before joining Sport England as National Governing Body Relationship Manager.

Now situated in London, Jilly has played a pivotal role in the development of Women’s Rugby, heading up the Welsh Women’s Rugby Union where she was charged with the development of women’s and girls’ rugby from a community to high performance level. 

She also managed the successful integration of the Women’s Welsh Rugby Union into the WRU.

The 32-year-old will now be charged with assessing the footage from weekend matches.

Holroyd said: ‘I have always had a passion for rugby and over the years have been fortunate enough to get to experience many different roles, including as a player, coach, team manager and administrator. Citing gives me the opportunity to broaden my skill set into a new area and I am really excited about the challenge.’

‘I also hope it will encourage more women into similar roles, which I think is really important, especially now that Women’s Sevens is part of the Olympic Games.’

Gerard McEvilly, RFU head of discipline, commented: ‘I am delighted to be able to appoint Jilly as an RFU Citing Commissioner in the 2013/14 Championship after a period of training with experienced RFU Citing Commissioners last season. Jilly’s significant rugby experience makes her ideally suited to this role.’