21st September, 2021
Sara Cox will on Saturday become the English Premiership’s first female referee, taking charge of reigning champions Harlequins’ clash with Worcester at London’s Twickenham Stoop stadium.
“Huge congratulations to @SaraCoxRef,” Premiership Rugby tweeted on Monday.
“She’ll become the first woman to referee a #GallagherPrem league game on Saturday. Continually making history.”
Huge congratulations to @SaraCoxRef 🎉
She'll become the first woman to referee a #GallagherPrem league game on Saturday 💪
Continually making history 👊 pic.twitter.com/cbncb1hoVA
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) September 20, 2021
Cox became the world’s first professional female 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 officiated a fixture between Bath and Wasps.
Cox was also the first woman to referee a match in the domestic Premiership Rugby Cup knockout competition in 2018.
She took charge of the women’s rugby sevens Olympic gold medal match between New Zealand and France in Tokyo in July and has officiated at two Women’s Rugby World Cups.