Ireland rugby team and Italy clashed at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon in the second round of the Six Nations. The Irish team, still smarting from their defeat to France on the tournament's opening night, will be looking to bounce back. The French's dominant performance in Paris sent a clear message to the rest of the competition that they are a force to be reckoned with.

On the other hand, the Italians arrive in Dublin on a high after their morale-boosting victory over Scotland. This match will also make Six Nations history. Scottish referee Hollie Davidson became the first woman to officiate a men's Six Nations game when she blew the whistle to start the match in the Irish capital.

Davidson, 33, hails from Aberdeenshire and was a scrum-half during her playing days, having been inspired to take up the sport by her father. She was selected for the Scotland Under-20 team in 2010 and later for the senior squad, but never earned a cap due to a dislocated shoulder.

After studying economic history at the University of Edinburgh, she went on to work for the banking giant JPMorgan after graduation.

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She began her officiating journey in 2015, taking charge of her first men's match six years later.

Rugby World reported that she accepted a 50 per cent salary reduction to chase her rugby ambitions.

Regrettably, she disclosed in a Guardian interview that harassment has been a persistent feature throughout her career.

"The stuff shouted from the sidelines was ridiculous," she said. "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.

"There would be indications of where I should go after the game for players to do whatever they wanted with me."

Despite facing doubters, Davidson continued advancing her refereeing credentials, earning recognition along the way.

She oversaw her first men's fixture in 2021, yet has continued to face abuse from critics, despite establishing herself as a respected official at the highest level.

Only trolls attacked her following last season's European Challenge final between Bath and Lyon in Cardiff, with her family members also targeted.

"I made a wrong call on a head contact and my name was being pulled through the mud and then my family received abuse," she revealed. "It really challenged me when I thought I was causing my family pain.

"You have to accept this is part and parcel of our job. But I hope we don't get to a point where the only people left at the top are the people that can hack it. Because then we don't have the best officials, we just have the people with thicker skins."

That said, she recognises that mistreatment and unpleasant incidents were also present in the women's game.

Looking back on a Women's Six Nations clash between France and England in Bayonne in 2022, she remembered: "I 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.

"Those two big decisions went against France. I wasn't on the money and I received a lot of abuse and hatred. It was a tough time to say: 'How do I pick myself up? When I'd done all my preparation in the same way, why did it not go well for me?'

"We were escorted off the pitch, we had stuff thrown at us and were spat on."

She continued: "You either decide: 'This isn't for me, bye-bye,' or you say: 'OK, 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.' I took that choice."

Davidson confessed she felt a surge of excitement when she learnt the news that she would be officiating a men's Six Nations match this year. "I was at home and I got a phone call from Joël Jutge, the referees' manager," she explained.

"We spoke about the Tests I'd done and I thought he was saying they were going to put me back as an assistant referee. But he said: 'OK, I'll share some news with you.' There was a pause.

"Then he said: 'You will be refereeing in the men's Six Nations.' An absolute wave of relief turned to excitement. He told me I'm doing Ireland versus Italy on 14 February and I said: 'That's absolutely fantastic.' But it still had to be announced so I couldn't tell anybody. I had to keep stumm for a week and a half."

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