WYE Valley rugby referee Amber Stamp-Dunstan made her Six Nations bow when she officiated at Saturday's Italy v Scotland Women's Six Nations match.

The 22-year-old former Monmouth Comprehensive School student from Chepstow ran the line as assistant referee at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, with the Scots winning 17-10 to go third.

Cardiff Metropolitan University sports management student Amber refereed at girls' U15s and U18s matches, before moving on to senior women’s matches and making history earlier this season when she and another woman official became the first to referee in the men’s WRU Admiral Championship.

She has her grandmother to thank for initiating her refereeing career after putting her forward for a free Welsh Rugby Union course specifically for women in 2019, after suffering multiple shoulder injuries which forced her to stop playing, which she had been doing since the age of six.

“Being a referee takes a lot of hard work but it’s completely worth it to be involved in the game," she said before Saturday's game.

"I’ve had so many incredible experiences from getting involved in refereeing. I’ve made new friends, travelled across the world and put myself out of my comfort zone. It’s given me so many great life experiences and definitely softened the blow of not being able to play.

“Refereeing is a huge commitment every week with attending games, training, and watching matches back to analyse them.

"But my lecturers at Cardiff Met have been really understanding and supportive, allowing me to balance both my studies and this passion outside of university.

"Refereeing and the sport management course complement each other really well and I’m using lots of transferable skills between both.”

And she urged other girls and women to consider trying refereeing, saying: "It’s a brilliant way of being involved in the game.”