Hollie Davidson's landmark appointment is another rugby milestone

This landmark achievement adds to the Scottish ref’s growing list of milestones and comes shortly after World Rugby confirmed her appointment to officiate the Springboks’ first Test against Italy in early July.

Fellow Scot Mike Adamson has been appointed TMO for the Bath-Lyon match which will take place in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Friday, May 23. The assistant referees will be Italy’s Gianluca Gnecchi and Ireland’s Eoghan Cross.

Davidson, 32, has been refereeing for a decade and became Scottish Rugby Union's first full time professional women's referee in 2017. The official from Aberdeenshire has since gone on officiate at the very top of the sport. She refereed the final of the 2021 Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and England and in February 2024 was an assistant referee at the England v Wales men's Six Nations Championship match, becoming the first female to do so.

Last summer, Davidson refereed a test match between South Africa and Portugal in Bloemfontein, becoming the first woman to referee a Springboks match.

EPCR, European club rugby’s governing body, has also announced that Nika Amashukeli of Georgia will referee the Investec Champions Cup final between Northampton Saints and Union Bordeaux-Bègles in Cardiff on May 24. The assistant referees will be Italy’s Andrea Piardi and Ireland’s Andrew Brace, and South Africa’s Marius Jonker will be TMO.

“I’m delighted to congratulate Hollie and Nika on their appointments as referees for the EPCR Challenge Cup and Investec Champions Cup finals, and extend that congratulations to their teams of four,” said Dominic McKay, the EPCR chairman.