Sara Cox, the world’s first female professional rugby union referee, has been awarded an MBE.

She was the first woman to referee any men’s top-tier game in England in 2018 in a Premiership Rugby Cup game.

Cox, who has officiated at the past two Olympic Games and three Women’s World Cups was named in the King’s Birthday Honours list for services to the game.

“I’m really proud, there’s a lot of years and a lot of hard work and tears that have gone into it,” said Cox, who turned professional as a referee in 2016 after injury cut short her playing career.

“There’s been a lot of times that I have stood there and said ‘I’m not sure that this is the pathway I want to take any more’, but I’ve stuck with it, I’ve brought myself out of that and really been determined to keep going with it and keep achieving stuff.

“To get an MBE really nicely encompasses all the hard work that I’ve gone through and some of the sacrifices that I’ve had to make as well.”

Cox – who was part of the first all-female officiating team in a European Challenge Cup match earlier this season – only told her mother about her award prior to it being announced.

She says she does not feel being a woman has had much impact on her role – which also sees her regularly officiate in the men’s second-tier Championship and the women’s Premier 15s competition.

“The gender side of stuff gets taken out of it once you get onto a rugby pitch,” she told BBC Radio Devon.

“You’re there to do a job and you’re there to be a professional, just like those guys that are on there.

“It’s all a pressure cooker and you’re surrounded by people that this is their livelihood, so the winning is what matters.

“For us, sometimes you do get things a little bit wrong and you do make a decision that they don’t potentially like, so you do get a bit of conversation.

“But as a sport we’re very, very keen on keeping respect and values and we do a lot of work around values in the background.”