The 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup, which takes place in Paris from August 1 to 17, will feature the world's top 12 teams competing in three pools.

Reigning champions New Zealand will be out to defend the title they won in England four years ago and while the players are working hard in the gym and on the training grounds, so too are the match officials.

Ten referees have met at the state-of-the-art Olympic Training Centre in Berlin, Germany, to review performances and trends from the Women's Six Nations and to prepare for some upcoming internationals as well as the big one in August.

As in the men's game, the scrum and the tackle were key areas of focus for the referees and their coaches with a fair contest demanded.

IRB High Performance Match Officials Manager Joel Jutge said: "All our attentions as far as Women's fifteens is concerned are focused on the Rugby World Cup in France.

"At the meeting, we examined the various rounds of the Six Nations using clips from all matches to discuss focus areas.

"It was an extremely useful workshop for all concerned as the key findings were agreed, particularly in relation to the scrum and the tackle.

"We are now all on the same page for future matches leading into summer internationals and the World Cup in August.

"In the scrum we want to see a higher percentage of balls leave successfully with less collapsing and a more stable platform.

"The key to the tackle area is quality - we want a high quality contest for the ball with a fair clean-out leading to quick ball."

The referees who attended the workshop were: Ireland's Helen O'Reilly, Beatrice Benvenuti (Italy), Claire Hodnett and Sara Cox (both England), Sherry Trumbull (Canada), Nicky Inwood and Jess Beard (both New Zealand), Marlize Jordaan (South Africa), Leah Berard (USA) and Amy Perrett (Australia).

O'Reilly took up the whistle after ten years playing club rugby with Ashbourne RFC and St. Mary's College RFC.

Like many retiring players she still wanted to be involved in the game and was encouraged to try her hand at refereeing.

She started out by refereeing IRFU Tag rugby for a season in St. Mary's and from then she was hooked.

Helen was put in touch with David Keane, then a Referee Development Officer in Leinster, who guided her through the first steps and got her on the refereeing ladder.

She has quickly risen through the refereeing ranks since then, taking charge of various schools, club, provincial and international matches.

Last year she became Ireland's first female referee to be appointed to the refereeing panel for the Women's RBS 6 Nations Championship, looking after the England v Italy and France v Scotland fixtures.

Her appointments this season have included last November's England v France encounter at Twickenham, which was broadcast live on Sky Sports, and two recent Six Nations clashes - France v England in Grenoble and Wales v France in Port Talbot.

"I would really encourage more women to get involved in refereeing. The backing is there from the IRFU. Owen Doyle, the Union's Director of Referees, gave me huge support and the Referee Development Officers are so generous with their time and knowledge," said O'Reilly.

“I loved playing rugby and I wanted to put something back into the game. The door is open for other women, the support is there. Pick up the whistle!"

Are you interested in becoming a referee? The IRFU Referee Department is here to help. Click here for further information.

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