Tara Jones
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| Born | 10 July 1996 Warrington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Hooker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tara Jones is an English rugby league referee and former player. She was hooker for St Helens and the England national team. In both disciplines, her career took off in 2018, when she captained St Helens in their debut women's Super League and became the first female match official for the men's Super League.
Early years
[edit]Tara Jones moved to Warrington as a child, taking up rugby at Crosfields Amateur Rugby League Football Club with her brother. She played with the team until she was eleven and no longer allowed to play with boys; she was able to play with the Warrington Girls' team, but also started refereeing courses as a way to continue being involved, finding that while the girls' team existed, it was underdeveloped compared to the boys'.[2]
Career
[edit]Playing
[edit]Jones played for Thatto Heath Crusaders women's side in St Helens at the start of her career.[1] In 2014 she helped them to defeat Bradford Bulls Women in the Women's Challenge Cup,[3] taking the same title against Featherstone Rovers the following year,[4] and Leigh Miners Rangers the year after that.[5]
Thatto Heath, smaller than the nearby St Helens R.F.C. Women, was bought out by this club ahead of the 2018 season. Jones was retained.[6][1] She became St Helens' captain, leading them in the debut season of the RFL Women's Super League.[2][7] For the 2019 season, she and Jodie Cunningham were named co-captains.[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, all rugby league except the men's Super League shut down; Jones, whose three-pronged career is playing, officiating, and coaching rugby, had to find alternative employment for the year.[9] In 2021, she helped St Helens to win all three available trophies:[1] the Challenge Cup, League Leaders' Shield, and Grand Final.[9] Continuing in the team, in 2022 they said that her leadership and ball-playing thinking were "irreplaceable for the side".[1]
Internationally, Jones debuted for England in 2015 on tour to France, playing in both matches and scoring twice in the first match.[10][11] In November 2019, Jones played in both games against Papua New Guinea.[12][13] She then scored a try for England in their 60–0 defeat of Wales in 2021, the squad's first game since the Papua New Guinea tour. She was then called up for preparation matches for the 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup,[9] and the World Cup itself, postponed and held in 2022.[14] She was one of eight St Helens players who played the first match in this women's World Cup, passing well and scoring a try in their 72–4 victory over debutants Brazil.[15][16]
Jones announced her retirement from her playing career after St Helens defeat by York Valkyrie in the 2024 RFL Women's Super League Grand Final. The announcement was concurrent with the news from the Rugby Football League that Jones is joining the full-time match officials squad.[17]
Officiating
[edit]Having started refereeing in 2009 at the age of twelve, Jones is part of the Warrington referees' society.[18] Among her experience are Schools Championship games, including at Wembley.[6] She became a grade two referee in early 2018, getting the opportunity to officiate academy games at the highest level.[18] In January 2018, she took the lead at two Challenge Cup matches.[19] She became the first female on-field match official in the (men's) Super League on 11 March 2018, serving as an in-goal judge;[6] she said that the support she got for this was "a bit surreal really", expressing her own support for the other female referees in the game coming through.[18] While away for her first England game in November 2019, Jones was named National Conference League referee of the year.[20] As of September 2022, she has been the principal referee for three games, all in the Challenge Cup.[19]
Jones has said that she wants to become a higher-ranked official, but her priority is playing.[9] While the mixed 2021 Rugby League World Cup hosted in England in 2022 saw female Australian and New Zealand match officials, there were no female English match officials; Jones would have been the selection but declined in order to play. She had made the same choice for the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup, but was not picked for the team and so did not appear.[21]
Jones became the first woman to referee a senior men's match in the northern hemisphere when she took charge of the League One match between Oldham and Cornwall on 14 April 2024.[22][a]
At the end of 2024, Jones was appointed to the RFL full-time match officials squad, becoming the first woman to be appointed.[24]
See also
[edit]- Julia Lee (rugby league), the first English female rugby league referee at any level
- Caitlin Beevers, the first woman to referee a rugby league match at Wembley
Notes
[edit]- ^ Sarah Bennison refereed the second half of a league game between Workington Town and Swinton in 2011. Bennison was one of the touch judges and took over after the referee, Jamie Leahy, developed an uncontrollable nose-bleed.[23]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "09| Tara Jones". St.Helens R.F.C. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ a b "'Surreal and an honour' - female official Jones on creating history". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "Amateur game: Women's Rugby League round-up". Total Rugby League. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "Stanley racks up points in Challenge Cup triumph". St Helens Star. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "Women's Rugby League Challenge Cup Final". 4 The Love of Sport. 1 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ a b c "Tara Jones: The first ever on-field female official in Betfred Super League". Rugby-league.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "Meet the woman rugby league star - who also referees the men's game". ITV News. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "Jodie Cunningham on choosing rugby over medicine". Sky Sports. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Women's Super League: St Helens' Tara Jones making the most of her life in rugby league". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "England Women triumphant in Tonneins against France". Rugby-league.com. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ "England fightback to earn a draw in France". Rugby-league.com. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ "Report: PNG Orchids 10-24 England Women". Rugby-league.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "Preview | PNG Orchids v England Women". Rugb-league.com. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ "England Women World Cup squad revealed". Rugby-League.com. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "Saints' Amy Hardcastle scores three in England's World Cup win over Brazil". St Helens Star. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ "How England's Warringtonian trio did in their World Cup opener against Brazil". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ "Tara Jones: St Helens and England hooker retires from playing to referee full-time". BBC Sport. 7 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Hard work pays off for 'inspirational' Jones". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Tara Jones (referee)". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ Jones, Tara (3 November 2019). "So the England staff pulled me to one side last night and told me that back home I have been awarded ... @OfficialNCL Referee of the year 2019!". Twitter. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "Why England's top female ref is playing at World Cup". National Rugby League. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ "Tara Jones: St Helens star to become first woman to referee senior northern hemisphere men's match". BBC Sport. 10 April 2024.
- ^ Wilson, Andy (15 July 2011). "Female referee Sarah Bennison takes rugby league by storm". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ "Tara Jones: St Helens legend ends playing career to become full-time rugby league referee". Sky Sports. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.