\u201cI probably stood out like a sore thumb,\u201d says Hollie Davidson as she reflects on the long hard road she\u00a0has travelled to reach the point where, on Saturday, in Dublin, she will become the first woman to referee a\u00a0men\u2019s Six\u00a0Nations game. Davidson\u00a0leans forward in her chair\u00a0and ticks off some of the doubts she has had to overcome amid derision and\u00a0prejudice.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning,\u201d the 33\u2011year\u2011old says, \u201cthe big thing was, always, physically can she do it? Will she be able to keep up with the men\u2019s game? What happens if she gets knocked over? Is her rugby\u00a0knowledge there? How will players and fans react to her? That sexism is still there at points, but people now just want to see a game being well\u00a0refereed.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no such acceptance at the start of her career in 2015. She nods when asked if she was verbally abused. \u201cYes. Straight off the bat. The stuff shouted from the sidelines was ridiculous. It was all about where I should be instead of a pitch or that I should be doing other things with my Saturday than refereeing a game. All the classics.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also had to hear bleak and frightening words. \u201cThere would be indications of where I should go after the game for players to do whatever they wanted with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davidson was in her early 20s then and, at times, she felt very lonely. \u201cThe beginning of my career was the most isolating and lonely point because you\u2019re learning your craft and the resources and the right people around you are few and far between.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s different now. I arrive at a game with at least three of my colleagues. I\u2019ve got my coach on the end of the line. I\u2019ve got a manager and a sports psychologist, I\u2019ve got all the support. But, at the beginning, you move into a space that feels very scary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hollie Davidson had to keep quiet for a week and a half before it was announced she would referee Ireland v Italy in the men\u2019s Six Nations on 14 February. Photograph: Tom Shaw\/Scottish Rugby<\/p>\n
She describes \u201ca game on the outskirts of Edinburgh\u201d as being particularly testing. \u201cSome of the comments shocked me when I was setting up a lineout. Sometimes reffing is tough because you take a lot and you can\u2019t say much back. But I wouldn\u2019t accept someone saying that to me if it wasn\u2019t my job.\u00a0While I couldn\u2019t say much, I\u2019ve\u00a0got quite a strong look.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davidson offers warm and amusing company<\/a>, but, briefly, she shows me an expression of steely defiance. She looks formidable before she smiles. \u201cI\u2019ve got a distinctive look and it was telling the man this is not acceptable. I\u2019d blown my whistle and I gave him the look \u2013 almost to say that if anything else happens I either call this game off or you\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes, through the toughest moments, you learn a lot. I learned this path would be challenging and tricky. But I also learned something about myself.\u201d That she is tough and resilient? \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Was the man quiet after she shot him that look? Davidson laughs. \u201cHe was silent. It showed me I have that grit to deflect it without using words of confrontation. That kind of thing happens a few times when you start out because the crowds aren\u2019t big so when stuff is shouted you really pick it up. When I referee now, what you hear in a stadium is very much reduced. But what you see and hear post-game is obviously amplified.\u201d<\/p>\n We will return to the painful subject of abuse, and the match that made her question whether she could continue being a referee, but it feels right to celebrate Davidson\u2019s achievement. She is full of so much justified excitement and pride that we focus on the sheer joy of another glass ceiling being shattered<\/a> in the conservative world\u00a0of Six Nations rugby.<\/p>\n Where was she when she heard that she would make tournament history? Davidson smiles helplessly. \u201cI was at home and I got a phone call from Jo\u00ebl Jutge, the referees\u2019 manager. We spoke about the Tests I\u2019d done and I thought he was saying they were going to put me back as an assistant referee. But he said: \u2018OK, I\u2019ll share some news with you.\u2019 There was a pause.<\/p>\n \u201cThen he said: \u2018You will be refereeing in the men\u2019s Six Nations<\/a>.\u2019 An absolute wave of relief turned to excitement. He told me I\u2019m doing Ireland versus Italy on 14 February and I said: \u2018That\u2019s absolutely fantastic.\u2019 But it still had to be announced so I couldn\u2019t tell anybody. I had to keep stumm for a\u00a0week and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n Davidson refereed the past two women\u2019s World Cup finals and, in men\u2019s rugby, she has taken charge of games featuring the All Blacks and the Springboks. But, as a Scot, the Six Nations feels magical.<\/p>\n Her love of rugby was forged by going to matches at Murrayfield with her dad and also with her school. She can\u2019t remember the result of the first international she saw, between Scotland and Wales, because \u201cmy most vivid memory is of the hats the Welsh fans wore, all those yellow daffodils\u201d. She says: \u201cI was about 12 and from then until I left school we would go every single year to either the Six Nations or the November Tests. Until then, I\u2019d been playing football, but once I experienced that buzz at Murrayfield I was hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n Davidson helped to set up a girls rugby team at her school near Balmoral and, as a \u201cyappy little terrier\u201d of a scrum-half, she showed considerable talent when playing at Edinburgh University. She was picked for Scotland Under-20 and called up to the senior squad for a match against the Netherlands, but she popped her shoulder in a practice game. \u201cTo this day, it absolutely pains me to never fulfil that dream of being capped. I had two bouts of surgery on my shoulder and after that I could never get back into the setup.\u201d<\/p>\n Davidson was devastated, but the experience fuelled her. She believes rugby came easily to her as a player and she did not always show the dedication elite sport demands \u2013 \u201cbut I have absolutely grabbed my opportunities in refereeing\u201d.<\/p>\n It took two years of hard graft as a part-time ref until, in 2017, Davidson left her job in banking at JP\u00a0Morgan to turn professional. Her salary was cut by more than 50% and Davidson\u2019s family and friends \u201ccouldn\u2019t quite believe it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBut until then I\u2019d always done the expected thing. I finished school, went to university, got my degree [in economic history] and a good job. I\u2019d never deviated off the conventional path. My boss [at JP\u00a0Morgan] was a huge supporter of\u00a0my refereeing and he was so gutted I was leaving. But he also said: \u2018If you doubt your decision I\u2019ll be throwing you out of this office. The opportunity to go down this path is once in a lifetime.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Davidson also realised that, as Scotland\u2019s first female professional referee, she had a chance to bring about change. \u201cIn my gut I knew I could make a difference and go to places that have been untouched before. It was a big risk, but something I absolutely loved.\u201d<\/p>\n When she was given a chance to referee her first men\u2019s international<\/a>, between Portugal and Italy, in Lisbon in 2022, she did not shrink from difficult, but correct decisions. \u201cThat was my stepping stone on to the international scene and you want to go under the radar. Now four yellow cards and two penalty tries is not under the radar. But it was very beneficial because I proved I wasn\u2019t scared to make those big decisions in a very tight game. It became a pivotal moment in my progression.\u201d<\/p>\n In her first women\u2019s World Cup final, between New Zealand and England at Eden Park<\/a> in 2021, she again proved her temperament when, after 18 minutes, she sent off the Red Roses\u2019 Lydia Thompson. \u201cI\u00a0knew it was a red card,\u201d Davidson says. \u201cIt was black and white, but it gave me a little bit of energy to know I could deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n Hollie Davidson shows a yellow card to Wales\u2019 Gareth Thomas in November. She hopes to be a referee at the men\u2019s World Cup next year. Photograph: Adrian Dennis\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Davidson is candid about errors she has made and equally honest about the abuse she has suffered. She reveals that during a women\u2019s Six Nations match between France and England in Bayonne in 2022 \u201cthings just weren\u2019t working for me for whatever reason, I don\u2019t know why\u201d, adding: \u201cI prepped the same and went into the game physically feeling really good. But I missed a penalty try against England and a simple yellow card.<\/p>\n \u201cThose two big decisions went against France. I wasn\u2019t on the money and I received a lot of abuse and hatred. It was a tough time to say: \u2018How do I pick myself up? When I\u2019d done all my preparation in the same way, why did it not go well for me?\u2019\u201d After the game, Davidson says, \u201cwe were escorted off the pitch, we had stuff thrown at us and were spat on\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went out for some dinner, but there was lots of animosity everywhere we went so we just went back to the hotel. You either decide: \u2018This isn\u2019t for me, bye-bye,\u2019 or you say: \u2018OK, I want to be at the top end. There are certain things I have to accept and certain growth areas that I need to be better at.\u2019 I took that choice.\u201d<\/p>\n