DEVON’S Sara Cox will break more new ground this weekend when she becomes the first women to referee a Premiership Rugby Cup game.
Cox will take charge of Wasps’ Sunday afternoon clash at the Ricoh Arena with Northampton Saints.
She will then follow that up by heading to France to officiate at World Rugby’s Repecharge Tournament where the final place at next year’s World Cup will be decided.
Cox will be an assistant referee for the games between Hong Kong v Germany, Canada v Germany and Kenya v Germany.
It will be her first time officiating at men’s full international level. She is experienced at women’s international level and took charge of this year’s World Cup Sevens final and also officiated at April Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2016 Olympics.
Cox is no stranger to setting new ground. She became the first women to take charge of a National One game and a Championship match and is the RFU’s first centrally-contracted female referee.
