English Premiership rugby ball

The English Premiership will have its first female referee on Saturday when Sara Cox takes charge of defending champions Harlequins’ clash with Worcester at London’s Twickenham Stoop.

“Huge congratulations to @SaraCoxRef,” Premiership Rugby tweeted on Monday.

“She will become the first woman to officiate a #GallagherPrem league game on Saturday. She continues to make history.”

Cox became the world’s first professional rugby referee in 2016 after receiving a central contract from England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU).

She became the first female assistant referee in Premiership history in August 2020 when she refereed a match between Bath and Wasps.

Cox was also the first woman to referee a match in the domestic knockout competition of the Premiership Rugby Cup in 2018.

She led the Olympic women’s rugby sevens gold medal match between New Zealand and France in Tokyo in July and has officiated at two Women’s Rugby World Cups.

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