Maxwell-Keys takes charge for final

By Mark Stevens
23/10/20

Craig Maxwell-Keys will take charge of his first ever Gallagher Premiership Rugby final on Saturday as Exeter Chiefs do battle with Wasps at Twickenham.

The 30-year-old ran the line in the semi-final between Exeter Chiefs and Bath Rugby at Sandy Park and now takes the whistle for the showpiece occasion in what will be his 16th match of the 2019-20 campaign.

Maxwell-Keys began officiating in 2006 and his first Gallagher Premiership match came in May 2014 at Kingston Park, where Exeter Chiefs beat Newcastle Falcons 23-13.

That came the week after he had taken charge of the Army v Navy match at Twickenham and England Rugby’s HQ will be the venue once more this weekend as Maxwell-Keys takes control of the final.

He has Rowan Kitt as TMO, while Danae Zamboulis makes history as the first woman to cite in a Premiership final.

This is the latest step in Zamboulis’ trailblazing career. She became the Gallagher Premiership’s first-ever female citing officer in September 2018 when she took up the role for a clash between Bath Rugby and Gloucester Rugby and led the first all-female team of citing commissioners on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series the following year.

The Greece-born official moved into the role having previously become a well-known figure in north-west rugby circles, playing for Cheshire and Birkenhead Park Panthers as well as coaching the men’s XV at Oxton Parkonians.

Her appointment crowns a historic season for female officials in the Gallagher Premiership. In August, Sara Cox became the first woman to referee a Gallagher Premiership game when she oversaw Bath Rugby against Wasps at The Recreation Ground.