Who is Hollie Davidson? Ireland vs Italy referee makes Six Nations history

Scottish referee Hollie Davidson will make history when she takes charge of the men’s Six Nations clash between Ireland rugby and Italy rugby in Dublin.

The 33-year-old will be in control of proceedings at the Aviva Stadium in round two as the first female official to be appointed referee for a men’s game in the championship, continuing her rise through the refereeing ranks.

Davidson has already overseen two World Cup finals, of course, including England’s win over Canada at a sold-out Allianz Stadium, Twickenham last September, which followed an inaugural appointment to the tournament decider in Auckland in 2022.

Davidson joined Andre Watson as the only match officials to referee back-to-back Rugby World Cup finals, with the South African overseeing men’s title deciders in 1999 and 2003 - though Englishman Ed Morrison whistled the 1995 men’s and 1998 women’s World Cup finals.

Having taken up refereeing in 2015 after her chances of a senior Scotland debut as a player were disrupted by a dislocated shoulder, Davidson has emerged as one of the game’s highest rated officials.

She operated as an assistant referee at the 2017 Women’s World Cup and experienced her first Test with the whistle little more than a year later, and has since broken new ground in the men’s and women’s game.

A first appointment to a men’s professional match came in early 2021 with Davidson subsequently leading the first all-female team of match officials for a men’s Test in a 2022 fixture between Portugal and Italy.

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Last year, she oversaw Bath’s Challenge Cup final win over Lyon in another significant appointment.

Davidson will be aided by fellow Test officials in Matthew Carley (England) and Luc Ramos (France) as assistant referees, with Ian Tempest (England) the Television Match Official (TMO) and Tual Trainini of France the Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO).

Ireland vs Italy match officials

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Sco)

ARs: Matthew Carley (Eng) & Luc Ramos (Fra)

TMO: Ian Tempest (Eng)

FPRO: Tual Trainini (Fra)