'I am really lucky': Horton to officiate on international stage

Her first two appointments will be in the Women's Six Nations, a tournament between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

She will rule on the April 20 fixture between England and Ireland at the revered Twickenham Stadium.

Then a week later she will head to Cardiff for the match between Wales and Italy at Principality Stadium.

Following the Six Nations, Horton will head to New Zealand for the Pacific Fours which is contested between Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA.

She will perform TMO duties for New Zealand versus the United States on May 11 and then New Zealand versus Canada on May 19.

A long-time lover of rugby, Horton first began refereeing "15 years or so" ago after finishing playing and hasn't looked back.

She made her international Test debut seven years ago and has also performed as a sideline official.

She's also the president of the New England Rugby Union referees and is the principal at The Armidale School.

Now she will switch the whistle for a television to analyse and rule on some of the more difficult parts of the game.

"It is an opportunity that I never anticipated or expected. And it is really exciting to have that opportunity to be part of the team and international rugby," she said.

Horton had her first opportunity at performing as a TMO last year.

"We had a limited TMO for the semi-finals and finals of the Super W last year," she said.

"That was my first go, although it was very limited, and then I was lucky enough to get a test match in May - I did the Wallaroos versus Fiji.

"I felt very nervous learning and developing last year and perhaps a little bit more comfortable this year and have some good opportunities coming up."

Although there's no fitness tests to pass, it's a high pressure role.

No matter what sport it is, TMOs are heavily scrutinised and criticised by the public.

But Horton is confident in her knowledge of the game and believes she can rule correctly, as long as she is given all the angles.

"I am a little bit nervous about that but I think when you are in the game and in the space, you have you have processes to follow, you follow those processes, stick with them and hopefully you get the right outcome," she said.

"I am sure someone will have something negative to say at some stage but I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

"I think what you really hope the TV director doesn't show something you haven't seen, that is my biggest worry - I will miss something.

"There's no easy practice, you just have to hope you're pretty switched on."

And she will have to be sharp.

The women's game better than ever, not that Horton is complaining.

Since she made her debut as an on-field referee seven years ago, there's been a massive improvement in all aspects.

"You look at all of our rugby players now as athletes, and they are incredible athletes, both locally and internationally," she said.

"The last women's rugby world cup, I was watching some of those games on the TV and I got really teary with how wonderful the rugby was and what a spectacle.

"That comes from some investment in the game, taking the game seriously and getting behind our women.

"There's more progress to make but the leaps and bounds the game has come on in the last five to 10 years is incredible.

"I am just so excited to be part of it, I am really lucky."

Along with Horton, there's several top level female referees officiating at the coming international tournaments.

France's Aurélie Groizeleau will be one of the centre officials for Horton's appointments while "trailblazer" Aimee Barrett-Theron, from South Africa, will lead the way in the other.

Following the international tournaments, Horton will no doubt be back on the fields in New England, giving back at a grassroots level.

She encouraged anyone thinking about refereeing to make the jump.

"I don't think I realised how much fun and satisfaction i would get out of it until I started it," she said.

"I think a lot of people would really enjoy refereeing.

"I also thought when I finished rugby or finish playing that I would really miss the team aspect.

"But what I didn't anticipate is the referees are a team and you still really get that team and mateship and friends through it. So I don't miss playing in the way that I thought I would."