Erin King

Erin King

Date of birth	(2003-10-21) 21 October 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb; 12 st 0 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Back Row Youth career Leinster U18 Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) Old Belvedere RFC (0) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2024– Ireland National sevens team Years Team Comps 2021– Ireland

Erin King (born 21 October 2003) is an Irish Rugby Union player who plays for the Ireland women's national rugby union team and the Irish Rugby Sevens team. In 2024, she was named World Rugby Women's 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year at the World Rugby Awards.

Early life

Erin was born in Sydney, Australia to parents James and Joanne. She has four brothers - Daniel, Matty, Connor, and Liam. She also lived with her family in Dubai and Doha. The family moved back to Wicklow in Ireland for Erin’s teenage years. Erin played youths rugby at Naas RFC and represented Leinster and Ireland U18 rugby union sides. She plays her club rugby for Old Belvedere RFC.^[1]

Career

Erin made her debut for the Ireland sevens team at the Dubai Sevens in December 2021, after being identified as a Player of National Interest at the age of 17 and joining the Ireland Sevens program in January 2021.^[2] Erin played an important role in the Irish women’s team becoming the first ever to win a World Series silver medal in February 2022, in Spain.^[3] Erin scored her first tries for Ireland in a 22-21 win against Canada at the French HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series event in Toulouse in May 2022.^[4] She was named in the Ireland squad for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament held in Cape Town, South Africa in September 2022.^[5]

She represented Ireland at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.^[6][7]

Playing for the Ireland 15-a-side team she scored twice as they beat New Zealand at the WXV1 competition in Canada in September 2024.^[8] In November 2024, she was named World Rugby Women's 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year at the World Rugby Awards.^[9][10]

References

1. "Leaving Cert results tomorrow, the World Cup next weekend - King's rise". the42.ie. September 2022.
2. "From Dubai to Ireland and back again – this time as a World Series international player". thenationalnews.com.
3. "Lucy Mulhall and Erin King help make history with Irish 7s". independent.ie. 2 February 2022.
4. "Ireland's men's and women's sides win through to France Sevens semi-finals". Irish Times.
5. "Ireland Squads Named For Rugby World Cup Sevens In Cape Town". Irishrugby.ie.
6. "Ireland - Rugby Sevens Olympic Games Paris 2024". www.world.rugby. 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
7. "Ireland Sevens Squads Confirmed For 2024 Paris Olympics". Irish Rugby. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
8. "Ireland stun world champions New Zealand in WXV1". BBC sport. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
9. "England's Kildunne and Matthews nominated for award". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
10. Heagney, Liam (24 November 2024). "Ellie Kildunne named World Rugby women's 15s player of the year". Rugby Pass. Retrieved 24 November 2024.