Another month, another landmark for the trailblazing Scottish referee
WHEN RUGBY bosses announced that Hollie Davidson would take charge of South Africa’s upcoming match against Portugal, the sport paid her the biggest compliment by taking it in its stride. Davidson, 31, will make history with her 20 July appointment in Bloemfontein, the first woman to referee the men’s world champions. Much like when Stephanie Frappart became the first female to take charge of a men’s FIFA World Cup fixture in 2022, the reaction has been more one of ‘about time’.
“Holly is an extremely talented, impressive match official. Nothing to do with whether she’s male or female,” says Wayne Barnes, until his recent retirement recognised as the best in the business. “She’s a peer and she’s admired by everyone in the group.”
The view of England star Meg Jones is strikingly similar. “I don’t know why we should genderise referees,” she says. “Why does it matter? Hollie will show she can do it. It’s a huge game for her but it’s been a long time in coming.
She fully deserves it.”
Davidson already boasts more firsts than a Cambridge don: Scottish rugby’s first full-time pro women’s ref (2017), the first to whistle a men’s Six Nations team (Portugal v Italy, 2022), the first female assistant ref in Six Nations history (2023). Officiating the Boks’ first match after their eagerly awaited series with Ireland is a natural progression.
“It’s not as if she’s been fast-tracked, ‘Right, we need a female’,” says Sarah Hunter, England’s record cap holder.
“Hollie is a very competent referee. High quality, highly skilful. She has this knack of going unnoticed because of how well she manages the game and how good she is at what she does.
“Every first she’s achieved as a female referee she’s absolutely deserved, through not only hard work but the quality of her work.
“What I like about her is she’s very modest, she just goes about her business. It’s not been about the noise she makes that has got her to where she is, it’s how good her refereeing
