Irelands Erin King It Was Tough Some Days To Keep Showing Up

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Twelve months ago Erin King was not only told she may never play rugby again but faced the possibility of being unable to even run. Fast forward to now and the 22-year-old is ready to lead Ireland in their revenge mission against France this Saturday after their rivals knocked them out of last year’s Rugby World Cup in King’s absence.

King, who transitioned from sevens rugby after the 2024 Olympics, had sustained a serious knee injury against England at the 2025 Six Nations which ruled her out of the global showpiece. It was a blow for Ireland’s campaign with the back row going from strength-to-strength in the 15s game. In 2024 she had been named the World Rugby breakthrough player of the year after standout performances that included scoring two tries in the team’s historic win over New Zealand at the WXV tournament.

Just as her career was taking off, it all came crashing down in Ireland’s 49-5 loss to the Red Roses in Cork. “I don’t think I realised at the time the extent of the injury, I don’t think they told me fully,” King says. “Then I met the surgeon and physios who were coming up with a plan because it was quite a unique injury, there were a few different options. It was really tough.

“I think at first I was a little bit in denial and thought: ‘No, I’ll go to the World Cup.’ That probably kept me going for a few weeks and then when I really realised it wasn’t on the cards for me it was really tough, especially with the trajectory I was going in. I was really happy with the form I was in and the team were in a really good place. It was a lot to take but I was surrounded by really good people. Dorothy Wall was in a similar boat of missing the World Cup so we really leant on each other at the time to deal with those emotions. We felt like we were the only two that really understood. It was probably one of the toughest things I will have to do.”

King’s injury was rare as most of her cartilage was knocked off the back of her kneecap. Surgeons fixed the problem by performing a nano-fracture, which is a form of microneedling, to stimulate cell regrowth, using pig collagen to give her knee a new structure.

She recovered, started rehab and in September ran for the first time. “It was a really emotional day that I will never forget. I sat down after [I ran] and bawled. I was overcome. It took a lot of hard work and mentally it was really tough some days to keep showing up.”

King returned to the pitch in January for Wolfhounds and her form has picked up right where she left off. Her first international game back was against England at Twickenham earlier this month when she scored a try on her return. The match was also her first as the Ireland captain after her selection was announced in January.

Ireland lost but narrowed the gap against the Red Roses and defeated Italy on Saturday. Now the team are gearing up to avenge the controversial World Cup quarter-final defeat by France last year. King was in the stands for the match and says she was “gutted” for the girls, believing they deserved to win after going 13-0 up only for France to mount a comeback to triumph 18-13. The controversy arose as Aoife Wafer was bitten by the France player Axelle Berthoumieu, but it was not caught by officials. She was subsequently banned for nine matches.

“We are quite excited to right some of those wrongs and get out some of those frustrations,” King says. “No matter who the opposition is, we are going out to win that game. I do think it probably adds a bit of venom, the fact that we lost that quarter-final. It makes the game more interesting, the fact that it was so close and all of the drama in that game comes along with it.

“I would say we are really excited to go. I think we have confidence now from last weekend and I am really excited to go over to France. It is going to be a tough challenge but it’s one we are embracing.”

If Ireland overcome France it would put them in title contention. England are favourites to retain the trophy but, if they were to slip, Ireland could take the title for the first time since 2015. King says the team are targeting the top two, with 2017 the last time Ireland finished above third. “If you look back a few years ago there were a few Six Nations there that we did really struggle. It was like: ‘Will this ever end? Will we ever overcome this?’ Over the past few years we have really shown that we can compete with the best in the world. Something we talk about is competing with that top four, there is a gap there but I think we are closing it.

“To break into the top two of the Six Nations is a big goal of ours and something that may be a little bit high to go for, but I really do believe we have the talent, pride and passion in the squad to get over the line.”

Jones revels in fans getting inked

Meg Jones has become one of the most recognisable faces of the Red Roses and her profile has only grown since being named England captain. The Trailfinders star has revealed fans often show off tattoos dedicated to her. “The amount of people who have had tattoos of my signature or my face is a bit worrying but I kind of enjoy it,” she said. “I have written on [fans] and then they get it tattooed straight on them which is crazy, isn’t it?

“I think it is just my thing because me and Botts [Hannah Botterman] got tattoos through the whole World Cup campaign. So I think it is one of those things: people have been on a journey with us. It’s nice. I think you forget people actually watch the screen and resonate with us. It’s been really lovely, that sort of connection with the fans. It’s permanent now, you are a fan for life. It’s nice because then we have locked them in.”

Memory lane

The first meeting between Ireland and France’s women’s teams happened at the 1994 Rugby World Cup in Pool C and Scott Bemand’s side will be hoping the game goes very differently on Saturday. In their maiden clash, France inflicted a 31-0 drubbing on their opponents. The match took place at Milngavie in Scotland with the French legends Karine Guichard, Beatrice de Barros and Annick Hayraud scoring in the five-try victory. It set a precedent for French wins in the fixture, with Ireland’s first victory coming in 2009. Ireland have beaten France only three times but they hope to make it four this weekend. The Ireland back row Aoife Wafer told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast: “I think this group has always had belief and it’ll be no different in France. I think we owe them one. The key factors will be that physicality fight again.”