Scottish referee Hollie Davidson takes charge of her second consecutive Women’s Rugby World Cup final after being appointed to oversee England against Canada.
The 33-year-old will be in control of proceedings at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham in front of a sold-out crowd of around 82,000, the largest ever for a women’s game.
Davidson was also in charge for the Red Roses’ defeat to New Zealand at Eden Park in the final three years ago, sending off England wing Lydia Thompson for a high tackle in the first half in Auckland.
Davidson joins 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 risen quickly through the ranks.
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.
Earlier this year, she oversaw Bath’s Challenge Cup final win over Lyon.
Davidson will be aided by experienced officials in Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa) and Clara Munarini (Italy) as assistant referees, with Leo Colgan (Ireland) the Television Match Official (TMO) and Matteo Liperini (Italy) the Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO).
Previous Women’s Rugby World Cup final referees:
1991 – Les Peard (Wales)
1994 – Jim Fleming (Scotland)
1998 – Ed Morrison (England)
2002 – Giulio De Santis (Italy)
2006 – Simon McDowell (Ireland)
2010 – Sarah Corrigan (Australia)
2014 – Amy Perrett (Australia)
2017 – Joy Neville (Ireland)
2021 – Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
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