Ireland Men’s Team To Be Part Of Historic First In 2026 Six Nations

The Ireland Men’s team will be part of a historic occasion at the Aviva Stadium in February when Scotland’s Hollie Davidson becomes the first woman to referee a Guinness Men’s Six Nations match.

Interested in becoming a referee? Click here for details from the IRFU Referee Department on how you can get involved.

Davidson, the winner of the 2025 World Rugby Referee award, has been appointed to take charge of Ireland’s clash with Italy in Dublin on Saturday, February 14.

It marks another milestone achievement in the 33-year-old’s already impressive career which has seen her referee 14 Men’s Tests out of a total of 48 so far, including the recent meeting of Wales and New Zealand in Cardiff.

She has already refereed an Ireland Men’s senior international fixture at the home of Irish Rugby, as she was at the helm for their 52-17 win over Fiji during the 2024 Autumn Nations Series.

Hailing from Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Davidson has refereed two Women’s Rugby World Cup finals and was the first woman to referee a Men’s Six Nations team when she led an all-female group of match officials for Italy’s game against Portugal in June 2022.

She became the first female assistant referee in both the Men’s Six Nations and the Rugby Championship in 2024, and had the whistle for that summer’s World Rugby Under-20 Championship final and also last May’s EPCR Challenge Cup decider between Bath and Lyon.

Joy Neville, Ireland’s own trailblazing female international referee who achieved a number of firsts herself as a former World Rugby Referee of the Year, has been a ‘huge mentor’ to her, and continues to provide valuable support as World Rugby’s elite Women’s 15s match officials head coach.

Meanwhile, Neville’s former IRFU High Performance refereeing colleague, Andrew Brace, has been selected to referee France v Italy in the upcoming Men’s Six Nations tournament.

For the February 22 encounter at Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy, the Brace-led team of match officials will include two other Irishmen, Eoghan Cross as one of the assistant referees, and Olly Hodges as the TMO.

It will be Hodges’ debut as a television match official in the Men’s Six Nations, and two weeks later, he will be the foul play review officer for the Scotland-France fixture in Edinburgh with Brace appointed as one of the assistant referees for the game.

IRFU High Performance referee Cross will be in action during the traditional ‘Super Saturday’ finale, on Saturday, March 14. The Limerick man has been appointed as an assistant referee for Wales v Italy in Cardiff.

The Emirates World Rugby match officials for the 2026 Championship have been confirmed today, with fourteen referees from eight nations with 487 Tests between them taking charge of the 15 matches.

England’s Karl Dickson will take charge of the opening match between Ireland and 2025 champions France at the Stade de France on Thursday, February 5.

Ireland’s Twickenham showdown with England on Saturday, February 21 will be refereed by Andrea Piardi from Italy, before English duo Karl Dickson and Luke Pearce will be on the whistle, respectively, as Andy Farrell’s men wrap up the Six Nations at home to Wales (March 6) and Scotland (March 14).

World Rugby High Performance 15s match officials manager Joël Jutge commented: “Congratulations to all selected. As we look ahead to another busy and exciting year of international rugby, we remain focused on delivering high performance through consistency, clarity and accountability.

“Like any high performance team, we are relentless in our pursuit of growth, with a strong ability to review, learn and move forward in collaboration with the game’s major stakeholders.

“The team is highly motivated to set the highest standards and we recognise the need to double-down on aiding game flow and ensuring consistency of decision-making when it comes to permanent red cards and 20-minute red cards.

“This means any foul play meeting the yellow card threshold should go to the bunker for review, while the permanent red card remains for acts of intentional foul play.

“With that in mind, we are fully committed to strengthening alignment and shared understanding with coaches, broadcasters, and fans ahead of the Six Nations.”