Tara Jones Explained

Tara Jones
Birth Date:10 July 1996
Birth Place:Germany
Retired:no
Club1:St Helens
Year1start:2018
Year1end:present
Appearances1:72
Tries1:41
Goals1:0
Fieldgoals1:0
Points1:164
Teama:England
Yearastart:2015
Yearaend:present
Appearancesa:13
Triesa:6
Goalsa:0
Fieldgoalsa:0
Pointsa:24
Updated:11 April 2024
Source:St Helens

Tara Jones is an English rugby league player and referee. She is the starting 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 men's Super League match official.

Early years

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'.[1]

Career

Playing

Jones played for Thatto Heath Crusaders women's side in St Helens at the start of her career. In 2014 she helped them to defeat Bradford Bulls Women in the Women's Challenge Cup,[2] taking the same title against Featherstone Rovers the following year,[3] and Leigh Miners Rangers the year after that.[4]

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.[5] [6] She became St Helens' captain, leading them in the debut season of the RFL Women's Super League.[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: the Challenge Cup, League Leaders' Shield, and Grand Final. Continuing in the team, in 2022 they said that her leadership and ball-playing thinking were "irreplaceable for the side".

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, 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]

Officiating

Having started refereeing in 2009 at the age of twelve, Jones is part of the Warrington referees' society.[17] Among her experience are Schools Championship games, including at Wembley. She became a grade two referee in early 2018, getting the opportunity to officiate academy games at the highest level. In January 2018, she took the lead at two Challenge Cup matches. 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;[5] 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. While away for her first England game in November 2019, Jones was named National Conference League referee of the year.[18] 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. 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.[20]

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.[21]

Career statistics

Club

Accurate as of 4 October 2022.

Appearances and points by season!Club!Season!Apps!Tries!Goals!Drop Gs!Points
St Helens20181480032
201914100040
20211350020
20221570028
202316110044
Career total724100164

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: 'Surreal and an honour' - female official Jones on creating history . BBC Sport . 4 October 2022.
  2. Web site: 4 August 2014 . Amateur game: Women's Rugby League round-up . 4 October 2022 . Total Rugby League.
  3. Web site: Stanley racks up points in Challenge Cup triumph . 4 October 2022 . St Helens Star . en.
  4. Web site: 1 August 2016 . Women's Rugby League Challenge Cup Final . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190426161641/http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2016/08/01/womens-rugby-league-challenge-cup-final/ . 26 April 2019 . 26 April 2019 . 4 The Love of Sport.
  5. Web site: Tara Jones: The first ever on-field female official in Betfred Super League. 27 September 2022. Rugby-league.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20220927134854/https://www.rugby-league.com/article/52000/tara-jones-the-first-ever-on-field-female-official-in-betfred-super-league. 27 September 2022.
  6. Web site: 09 Tara Jones . 4 October 2022 . St.Helens R.F.C..
  7. Web site: 21 August 2018 . Meet the woman rugby league star - who also referees the men's game . 27 September 2022 . ITV News . en.
  8. News: 8 March 2019 . Jodie Cunningham on choosing rugby over medicine . Sky Sports . 13 October 2021.
  9. Web site: Women's Super League: St Helens' Tara Jones making the most of her life in rugby league . 4 October 2022 . Sky Sports.
  10. Web site: England Women triumphant in Tonneins against France . Rugby-league.com . 17 June 2015 . 18 June 2024.
  11. Web site: England fightback to earn a draw in France . Rugby-league.com . 20 June 2015 . 18 June 2024.
  12. Web site: Report: PNG Orchids 10-24 England Women. 4 October 2022. Rugby-league.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20221008024841/https://www.rugby-league.com/article/56015/report-png-orchids---england-women. 8 October 2022.
  13. Web site: Preview PNG Orchids v England Women . Rugb-league.com . 15 November 2019 . 18 June 2024.
  14. Web site: 26 September 2022 . England Women World Cup squad revealed . 27 September 2022 . Rugby-League.com.
  15. Web site: Saints' Amy Hardcastle scores three in England's World Cup win over Brazil . 2022-11-01 . St Helens Star . en.
  16. Web site: How England's Warringtonian trio did in their World Cup opener against Brazil . 2022-11-01 . Warrington Guardian . en.
  17. Web site: Hard work pays off for 'inspirational' Jones . 27 September 2022 . Warrington Guardian . en.
  18. Web site: 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! . 4 October 2022 . Twitter.
  19. Web site: Tara Jones (referee). 27 September 2022. Rugby League Project.
  20. Web site: 2022-10-31 . Why England's top female ref is playing at World Cup . 2022-11-01 . National Rugby League . en.
  21. News: Tara Jones: St Helens star to become first woman to referee senior northern hemisphere men's match . BBC Sport . 10 April 2024.