From injury to history – Hollie Davidson’s rise to ref Challenge Cup final

When Hollie Davidson realised she would never fulfil her dreams of reaching the biggest stage as a rugby player, she did not give up or drift away from the sport.

Instead, she set off on a different path, one that would lead her to become one of the world’s top referees.

The Scot will make history on Friday night in Cardiff when she takes charge of Bath against Lyon in the Challenge Cup final, the first woman to referee a European showpiece.

It is the latest in a list of landmark moments in the 32-year-old’s career, one that seems to be on an upward trajectory.

Before all that, Davidson had ambitions of reaching the Test arena as a player.

A talented half-back who could operate at scrum-half or fly-half, she was on the cusp of breaking into the Scotland team – until fate intervened.

“I was 19 going on 20 and I got invited up to my first senior women’s Scotland camp,” Davidson tells the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast.

“I was named to get my first cap off the bench against the Netherlands.

“Unfortunately, the weekend before we were supposed to fly out, I ended up injuring my shoulder.

“That injury plagued me for the next few years, surgeries followed and I just could never find my way back into that set up.

“I was gutted. It’s so brutal when you get so close to something you want so much.

“For it to kind of be snatched away so quickly, it was brutal. I thought when that happened, that probably was my journey in rugby kind of over.”