Spanish referee Alhambra Nievas makes rugby history in Helsinki

Alhambra Nievas made history on Saturday by becoming the first  female to referee a competitive men’s international in Europe.

The fixture, held in Helsinki, was between Finland and Norway in the Conference Two division of Rugby Europe, with the hosts coming out on top as 15-8 winners in rainy  conditions in front of a sparse crowd of 250.

Spanish official Nievas, who acted as an assistant referee in a men’s Test between the United States and Tonga in San Sebastián last year, and refereed the women’s sevens gold medal match between Australia and New Zealand at the Olympic Games in Rio, did not hand out cards of any colour during her first stint in the middle for a men’s international.

All the scoring in the Finnish capital occurred in the first half of the game, which Nievas described as a “a very good day of rugby”. She added: “I really enjoyed refereeing on Saturday.” The 34-year-old is an engineer by profession but is now a full-time referee.

She was part of an all-female officiating team as she was joined by assistant referees Emmi Laine of Finland and Norway’s Severine Lescoffit.

Irish official Joy Neville will join Nievas in this elite club of females to referee men’s internationals when she takes charge of Norway versus Denmark on Oct 28.