Sara Cox will become the first woman to referee two top-flight English teams when she takes charge of Northampton v Wasps in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Sunday.

Cox, 28, was made the world’s first professional female rugby referee in March 2016 when she earned a central contract with the Rugby Football Union.

She was the first woman to officiate a second-tier men’s game in England when she oversaw Cornish Pirates’ meeting with Doncaster Knights in the Championship in March.

Cox, who gave up her own playing career because of injury, is scheduled to get her first experience of a men’s international this autumn, working on the sidelines of Hong Kong v Germany and Kenya v Germany, while she will also take charge of France Women v New Zealand Women on 9 November.  More