Sara Cox becomes first woman to referee a top-tier English match in Premiership Rugby Cup

Sara Cox was the only English referee at the 2016 Olympic sevens tournament in Rio

Sara Cox became the first woman to referee a top-tier English match as she took charge of Northampton Saints' 15-14 Premiership Rugby Cup win at Wasps.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) made Cox the world's first female professional rugby referee in March 2016.

The 28-year-old has since become the first woman to referee in the second and third tiers of English men's rugby.

Mitch Eadie's stoppage-time try saw Saints come from behind to win the game and go top of Pool Three.

Marcus Watson's touchdown put the home side 7-0 ahead at half-time, before Tom Willis doubled Wasps' lead just after the restart.

Saints hit back with a James Grayson penalty and an unconverted Taqele Naiyaravoro try.

After laying siege to the home line, Saints eventually broke through with Eadie's late score, before Grayson kicked the winning conversion.

The result leaves Northampton as the only side in Pool Three with two wins - they are four points clear of Bristol Bears and Gloucester, while Wasps stay bottom.

In Pool One, Newcastle Falcons survived a second-half Harlequins' fightback to win 23-21 at the Stoop.

Demetri Catrakilis hit the crossbar with a 40-metre penalty in the final minutes that would have won the game for the home side, after Tim Swiel's 73rd-minute three-pointer had put the Falcons back in front for what proved to be the final time.

Portugal centre Pedro Bettencourt got his first try since moving to the Falcons in the summer to help his side lead 13-6 at half-time.

Ben Stevenson crossed to put Newcastle 20-9 up with 30 minutes to go before tries from Lewis Boyce and Alex Dombrandt saw Quins lead by a point with 18 minutes left.

Newcastle go level with Exeter at the top of the pool, with Quins a point behind.

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