KEY POINTS:
New Zealand referee Nicky Inwood will make history tomorrow when she becomes the first woman to officiate in the Six Nations women's rugby match and the first woman to referee at Twickenham.
Inwood, 37, of North Canterbury, will control the match between England and Italy, the curtain-raiser to the men's Six Nations match between the same countries.
New Zealand Rugby Union high performance refereeing manager Keith Lawrence said Inwood was a standout referee.
"This is an outstanding achievement and is further recognition of her successful refereeing at last year's women's Rugby World Cup," he said.
"Nicky has performed consistently well over the last seven years at international and regional level."
Inwood, a former Canterbury and Wanganui player, represented the Black Ferns from 1989 to 1991.
She started refereeing in 1999 and has since officiated in two World Cups - in Barcelona and Edmonton.
Yesterday she said: "It is an absolute honour and delight to represent New Zealand as an international referee, and to be involved in a women's Six Nations game is simply the best."
- NZPA
