Overview
- Holly Wood has been named referee for the Premiership Women’s Rugby Final between Saracens and Trailfinders Women at Twickenham Stoop, 86 days after she gave birth to her second child.
- She returned to the whistle seven weeks after the birth by officiating a men’s Division One County Cup match and resumed PWR duty at the end of May.
- Wood said she has refereed 33 matches this season, a figure she uses to explain that she has not felt like she missed a season.
- She kept her second pregnancy private during the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, serving as a lead official until about 20 weeks and then as an assistant through the second trimester.
- The appointment is framed as a full-circle moment—Wood played in the 2016 final at the Stoop—and as a public example that parenting and elite refereeing can coexist, which could raise the profile and support for women officials.