Scottish referee Hollie Davidson to be first woman to officiate European club rugby final

Scottish referee Hollie Davidson is to make history again when she becomes the first woman to take charge of a European Professional Club Rugby final.

EPCR have announced that Davidson is to referee the Challenge Cup final between Bath and Lyon in Cardiff on May 23.

She will also be the first Scot to referee a European rugby final since Jim Fleming oversaw Bath’s Heineken Cup triumph in 1998.

“European rugby is the pinnacle of the professional game, and to be named as the Challenge Cup final referee is something that I never thought was possible when I was starting out,” Davidson told www.scottishrugby.org.

“It has been a long time since a Scot has done a final, so I am just absolutely over the moon to be named as the referee for such a big game.”

She previously made history in 2019 when she led an all-female team of match officials for a Portugal v Italy men’s international. It was the first time an all-female team had taken charge of a men’s Test match and the first time a female referee had officiated a men’s Six Nations team in a Test.

Davidson, who is from Aboyne, became Scottish rugby union’s first full-time professional women’s referee in 2017.

She gave up her career in banking to pursue her dream and at the time she started full-time officiating, she was one of only three professionals in the world.

Davidson played for Edinburgh University as a student before joining Murrayfield Wanderers.

After two shoulder dislocations ended her playing career, she picked up the whistle and tried her hand at officiating and has since gone on to become a trailblazer in the sport.