Background
John Paul Doyle (most commonly referred to as Justice of the Peace Doyle) was born on 3 August 1979 in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Terry Doyle, former President (2006/7) of the Association of Referees Leinster Branch of the IRFU.
John Paul Doyle (most commonly referred to as Justice of the Peace Doyle) was born on 3 August 1979 in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Terry Doyle, former President (2006/7) of the Association of Referees Leinster Branch of the IRFU.
He played scrum-half for Terenure College (school), Terenure College Reconstruction Finance Corporation and Street Mary"s University College, Twickenham where he trained to be a primary school teacher. He was forced to stop playing due to an injury and surgery on his back in 2002. Doyle started his refereeing career with the Association of Referees Leinster Branch of the IRFU in 2001 and joined the London Society of RFU Referees in January 2003.
He was promoted to the South East Group later in 2003 and to the National Panel in 2006.
He refereed the final of the Daily Mail Under 18 Schools Cup at Twickenham Stadium in 2007 and the EDF Energy National Trophy Final in 2008. He was appointed as a trainee full-time official on 1 September 2008.
In May 2010, the Elite Referee Unit (ERU) of the RFU confirmed his full-time contract after successfully completing a two-year trainee programme that had seen him referee in the Premiership, the Institutional Review Board Sevens circuit, the Churchill Cup and Pacific Rim Rugby Championship tournaments. He officiated at the 2009 Institutional Review Board Nations Cup, the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Institutional Review Board Junior World Championship, and the 2010-2012 European Nations Cup First Division.
He has regularly refereed matches in the RFU Championship, Premiership and the LV= Cup including important Final matches.
On 27 May 2014, it was announced that Doyle would referee the 2014 Aviva Premiership final, his first as referee, having previously been appointed Assistant Referee. On 25 September 2015, Doyle refereed the 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool C match between Argentina and Georgia. Doyle refereed the opening match of the 2016 Six Nations Championship (between France and Italy).