Erin King has declared that it “means everything” to return to the Ireland side for their Women’s Six Nations opener against England at Twickenham.
King will captain Ireland in the match, making her first international appearance in a year. She is grateful for the opportunity after recovering from a knee injury.
King’s Emotional Return After Injury
King sustained a knee injury in the defeat by England in the 2025 Six Nations. The injury forced her to miss the World Cup.
“It’s a bit emotional for myself the fact it’s almost a year to do the day [since the injury], it’s really emotional,” she said.
“A lot of hard work to [get back] and to get to do it with this team of amazing girls, I’m so lucky to be in the position I’m in.”
Ireland Prepare for Record Crowd
The game is set to be played at the Allianz Stadium in front of a record crowd of 75,000. England are looking to win an eighth Six Nations in a row.
King said, “It’s lovely walking out, we will have a few laughs and smiles on our faces, it’s a beautiful stadium and we can’t wait to get going.”
She added, “A lot of people talk about the noise in here some of the girls have played prem [Premiership Women’s Rugby] games in here, Aoife Wafer has talked about it and even with 40,000 in the stadium you can’t hear yourself, so we’re really excited and can’t wait to hear the sound of the stadium.
Ireland’s Focus Ahead of the Match
King believes Ireland have taken learnings from their last experience against England. The Red Roses recorded their highest ever points win over Ireland with an 88-10 victory the last time the sides met at the Allianz Stadium in 2024.
“We’ve talked about how big the occasion is going to be, but for us we’re just focusing on ourselves and the match and the job at hand.
“We want to enjoy it, it’s an amazing experience and it’s great we’re hopefully selling out stadiums but at the end of the day, we’re here to do a job and that’s what we’re focusing on.”
Six Nations Fixtures for Ireland
- After taking on England, Ireland have a home game against Italy in Galway.
- They then travel to take on France in round three.
- Scott Bemand’s side round off the championship with back-to-back home games in Belfast and Dublin against Wales and Scotland.
King is delighted they have the chance to spring an upset in the first game, despite Ireland being huge underdogs to end England’s 34-game unbeaten run.
“It’s nice to have a challenge first. We’ve done things in the past people didn’t think we could do and for me personally, I’m embracing the challenge and we’ve spoken about that as a team and we’re excited to take it on.”
The match is on Saturday, 11 April, kick-off 14:25 BST.