Ex-Irish ref boss: Italy’s ‘very genuine gripe’, Ireland star is ‘totally out of order’ and verdict on ‘harsh’ Craig Casey call
Tommaso Menoncello's pass and an inset of Ireland scrum-half Craig Casey.
Ex-IRFU referee boss Owen Doyle has weighed in on the big decisions made by Hollie Davidson and her officiating team during the Six Nations clash between Ireland and Italy.
Davidson made history in the fixture, becoming the first-ever woman to take charge of a men’s Six Nations match as Ireland clinched a hard-fought 20-13 victory at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
However, it was not without controversy with her decision to yellow card Italy’s Louis Lynagh and Ireland scrum-half Craig Casey coming under scrutiny, as did the call to rule out one of the Azzurri’s tries.
Doyle, a former international referee, has weighed in on some of the big talking points from the game, stating that while she was selected for the match on merit, she didn’t have the best of performances.
Owen Doyle’s verdict on the big calls
Notably, in the second half as he gave the official a pass mark for the first 40 minutes in Dublin.
“The first half was, by any metric, a very good performance by Davidson,” Doyle wrote in the Irish Times.
“Italy’s Louis Lynagh was rightly binned for a deliberate knock-on as he had no chance of catching the ball. Craig Casey was also yellow-carded for an upright attempted tackle. While it might have looked a harsh call and the degree of danger was not high, Casey needed to make some effort to position himself for a legal tackle.”
It was in the second half where things unravelled for the official, according to Doyle who believes that she was not helped by the intervention of TMO Ian Tempest, who was adamant that Italy’s Tommaso Menoncello’s pass to Lynagh was forward.
“As we got into the second half, the temperature rose and tempers frayed,” he continued.
“In this respect, James Ryan may well be heading for trouble as his attempts to provoke the opposition were totally out of order. With the intensity ratcheting up, we saw a few incorrect and questionable decisions. Two or three breakdown calls perplexed Irish captain Caelan Doris. He had a point.
“The scoring pass from the superb Tommaso Menoncello to Lynagh was called forward, ruling out the try. It was an unnecessary intrusion by TMO Ian Tempest, who should have stayed silent. The passed ball crossed the 22-metre line, making it appear as being forward.
“But, as Isaac Newton’s law of momentum tells us, that has nothing to do with it. Nor did we see evidence of the ball being delivered forward out of Menoncello’s hands. Italy clearly have a very genuine gripe on this one – it goes into the poor-decision category.”
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One of Davidson’s final calls was to penalise Ireland debutant Edwin Edogbo for a breakdown infringement after warning the forward not to continue to compete for possession.
“The last-minute penalty against Edwin Edogbo was also in that category. Or was it? Edogbo seemed to do as he was told, but was pinged anyway,” he added.
“If Davidson considered that he had slowed down Italian possession, then she probably felt a penalty was necessary. It was all very debatable and therefore, the wise course of action was to play on. Potentially result-altering decisions need to be crystal clear and this one was not.”
A host of firsts for Hollie
While Doyle was critical of the Scotswoman’s second-half showing, he believes that we will see more of her at this level as she has earned the right to be there.
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Davidson has smashed ceilings for women referees since taking up the whistle on a permanent basis in 2017, quitting here banking job. She has officiated at three Women’s Rugby World Cups, taking charge of the 2021 and 2025 finals.
A regular feature in the United Rugby Championship and Investec Champions Cup, Davidson became the first woman to officiate a Springboks Test match, doing so in July 2024 when South Africa faced Portugal and did the same for the All Blacks when New Zealand collided with Wales last November.
She also officiated the Challenge Cup final between Bath and Lyon last year and after making history at the 2026 Six Nations, she has set her sights on making the cut to be a referee at the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
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