'My options are open for next year': Erin King

Ireland international Erin King confessed that a move to a Premiership Women’s Rugby club could be on the cards next season.

In an October interview the 22-year-old back-row forward, who was nearing the end of her time out with a serious knee injury, confessed that the world’s best players are plying their trade across the Irish Sea.

This includes Ireland teammate Aoife Wafer who joined Harlequins after the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

King was named 2024 World Rugby Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year but missed out on Women’s Rugby World Cup selection after she tore some of the cartilage off the back of her patella tendon against England in the 2025 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

Last weekend King made her long-awaited return to the field as she started for Wolfhounds in their second round Celtic Challenge win against Clovers.

She was on the field for 20 minutes as Aoife Dalton, Robyn O’Connor, Maggie Boylan and Eve Higgins all scored tries in the 24-7 win.

With the first ever British & Irish Lions Women tour coming up in 2027 the explosive No.8 – who received a full-time centralised contract in November – acknowledged that she may move to England next season to challenge herself in an historic year for women’s rugby.

“If you do want to be selected for that Lions tour, you do need to be playing against the best and with the best in the world,” King told RTE.

“The best international players are playing in the Prem (PWR) over in England. My options are definitely open for next year leading into that Lions tour.

“I’m still young, so I’m not too worried, but wherever I can better myself and become the best player, I’m going to do it.

“If that means going to England, that means going to England. If that means staying here, that means staying here.

“I guess I’ll just play it by ear and see at that moment in time what is going to make me the best I can be.”

King was sorely missed at last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup as Scott Bemand’s side left the competition at the quarter-final stage.

In that knockout clash against France, Ireland were powerless to stop their opponents from scoring 18 unanswered second half points to win the game 18-13.

It was a stern lesson for a team that have seen such improvement under former England Red Roses backs coach Bemand since his 2023 appointment.

 

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Newfound confidence among the playing group saw the team finish third in the last Guinness Women’s Six Nations, while Wafer claimed Player of the Championship for her dogged displays.

This year Ireland begin their Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign with a trip to London where they will face-off with world champions England at Allianz Stadium.

With a host of new talent emerging, King believes that there is still plenty of room for Ireland to grow and for the fifth-ranked side in the world to pose questions to ‘big four’ nations England, Canada, New Zealand and France.

“It’s really exciting,” the 22-year-old said. “The girls definitely showed how great we can be and how close we are to competing with the top four nations.

“There is a bit of a divide there and I think we’re bridging that gap. Which is super exciting. We’re only getting better.

“There’s 35 fully contracted girls and a lot of them are young girls coming through – which is brilliant to see. Some of them are going from strength to strength and it will definitely be nice to see some new first caps in the Six Nations.

“Scott’s obviously doing a great job and we’ve built a really good relationship with him and he’s brought our game on so much. I kind of think the world’s our oyster.”