The England player turned World Cup referee

Published4 hours ago

Four years ago, Tara Jones played for England in a Rugby League World Cup semi-final.

This Saturday, she will be refereeing one, when New Zealand's women - her opponents in 2022 - face Samoa in Newcastle, New South Wales.

It means that the former St Helens hooker has gone one stage further at the tournament than either England's men or women managed this time around.

She has come a long way since starting out as a referee, where the tests of character came from the very beginning - in one of her earliest games, when she was aged just 12, she had to send off a misbehaving parent on the sideline.

For years, she combined officiating with a successful playing career at Saints, with whom she won a Women's Super League title, two League Leaders' Shields and four Challenge Cups - becoming the first woman to score a try in a Challenge Cup final at Wembley, in 2023, a year before her retirement.

Still only 30, Jones has been made an MBE for her services to a sport in which she made history in March by becoming the first woman to referee a men's Super League fixture.

As RFL match officials department general manager Andy Smith put it when her semi-final appointment was announced on Tuesday, Jones "is building a reputation as one of the world's top officials".

She has come a long way since her start in the sport, when she had to show a stubborn streak just to stay involved - which was a major factor in her taking up refereeing in the first place.

'I was never going to be a dancer'

Jones, who is officiating in her first major international tournament, has taken charge of three games at the Women's World Cup so far - including one involving some of her former international team-mates.

She was in the was in the middle for England's 70-6 victory over Wales on 17 October, before refereeing two France matches, against New Zealand and Fiji.

And she has documented all the time and work she has put in behind the scenes at the World Cup on her Instagram account.

Born in Germany - where her father was serving in the Army at the time - and raised in Warrington, Jones has been on quite the sporting journey.

It began as a young girl being taken to rugby training by her dad - ignoring her mother's desire for her to take up dance.

"My brother played and my dad took him training - he was the team manager. I was probably that annoying little kid who was trying to join in but getting in the way a little bit," she told BBC Radio Merseyside in March.

"My mum wouldn't let me play because I was her little girl, and I think she wanted me to be a dancer. I was never going to be a dancer... or ballet, or gymnastics, or something like that. My dad secretly took my across to my own age group and let me play.

"Unfortunately, when I got to the end of Under-11s, I was then told I couldn't carry on. Back then, the opportunities for girls to play rugby were few and far between.

"It's much better now. But that's why I went into officiating. I was a bit stubborn, and I was told that I couldn't do something within the sport that I loved.

"I was like: Well, I will find a different avenue, and no-one's going to tell me I can't be involved in this sport at the top level and within the boys' side of it."

Rugby League World Cup: New Zealand v Samoa

Saturday, 7 November, 06:45 GMT

Newcastle, New South Wales

Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app

Jones has hardly looked back, having only joined the RFL match officials department on a full-time basis two years ago.

She is one of three UK-based officials at the World Cup, alongside Liam Moore and Chris Kendall.

And having faced the Kiwi Ferns on a dark and dank night in York four years ago, she is likely to have much happier memories of this semi-final - and the fortitude to brush aside any negative social media comments surrounding her appointment.

"I remember at 12 years of age sending off a parent who was stood on the sideline. You've got to have broad shoulders and stick up for yourself," she added.

"I was probably a bit shy as a kid as well, to be honest, and not really out there. But put me on a rugby field and I'm just a different person. Over time, that confidence has grown within me off the field as well, and it's made me the person that I am.

"So it's definitely given me those attributes and life skills as I've been growing up.

"I hope I can inspire young girls - and match officials in general. It's a bonus if I can get young girls into the sport.

"I've had parents say to me: I tell my little girl about everything you've achieved, because I want her to look up to you, and be like you, and know there are opportunities for her to do that.

"On a personal level, my own nephew, who is seven, said to his dad, 'There's Auntie Tara on the news,' when I was receiving my MBE. 'I want to be like Tara.'

"That was a really special moment when I got told my own nephew aspires to be like me and wants to go on and achieve big things."

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