World Rugby confirms Emirates Match Official appointments for Guinness Women’s Six Nations

• Final international window before panel is selected for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 
• Thirteen officials from nine nations to take charge of 15 matches in the Women’s Six Nations  
• Match official profiles are available in the World Rugby Media Zone  

With less than 250 days to go until the start of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, the Emirates World Rugby Match Official appointments have been unveiled for the Guinness Women’s Six Nations.  

The tournament falls into the final window of international matches before the 22-strong panel of referees, assistant referees and Television Match Officials is selected for England 2025, which kicks off at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on 22 August.  

Thirteen officials representing nine nations and boasting a total of 289 tests between them will take charge of the 15 matches in the Women’s Six Nations from 22 March-26 April. A total of 29 officials from 14 nations will be involved in the Championship, 23 of whom were involved across the three levels of WXV 2024. 

VIEW WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS APPOINTMENTS >> 

Highlights include: 

• Ella Goldsmith (Australia), Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe) and Holly Wood (England) to referee first matches in the Women’s Six Nations. 
• Pazani will become the first referee from Africa, outside of South Africa, to officiate in the Championship. 
• Lauren Jenner (New Zealand) returns to the test arena for the first time since late 2023, having missed the last year following the birth of her son. 
• Fresh from refereeing in the men’s Autumn Nations Series, Hollie Davidson (Scotland) will take charge of the opening Women’s Six Nations match between Ireland and France on 22 March. 
• Maggie Cogger-Orr (New Zealand) will referee the final match, between England and France at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on 26 April.  
• Four assistant referees will also make their Women’s Six Nations debuts in Shanda Assmus (Canada), Jess Ling (Australia), Amelia Luciano (USA) and Zoe Naude (South Africa), as will Television Match Officials Oli Kellet (Australia) and Aaron Paterson (New Zealand). 

Chair of the Women’s Emirates World Rugby Match Officials Selection Committee Su Carty said: “2025 is a massive year for the women’s game with a record number of international fixtures, competitions and, of course, an era-defining Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025. 

 “This represents a generational moment for the women’s game, our players and fans. But, it also marks a step change for our women’s game match official structures. We are a year into embedding a new structure with talent development, specialist coaching and robust performance review, all geared towards widening the pool of international quality match officials. The appointments on the road to England 2025 reflect that mission. This is an exciting time for all.” 

Women’s High Performance Referee Manager Alhambra Nievas said: “For the first time, we will be able to appoint our match officials through to the Rugby World Cup warm-up matches. This is a result of our new structure and a reset way of working with competitions and teams. We are excited about the journey ahead of us in what will be the biggest-ever year for women’s Rugby.”