'The belief is there' - Ireland breakthrough star Erin King excited for 2025

It was the stand-out win of the year for Ireland, an overachievement that went under the radar.

In the early hours of Monday 30 September, Scott Bemand's side downed back-to-back World Cup champions New Zealand in their opening WXV1 game in Vancouver.

Very few saw the 29-27 victory as it happened, there was little expectation, and the game was only available online.

As the match unfolded, it appeared to stick closely to a common Ireland-New Zealand narrative.

Ireland, though Aoife Wafer, aka 'Red headgear', and Neve Jones, scored three tries and it was all square at the break.

A yellow card for the girls in green followed and New Zealand led with 14 minutes to go.

Then Erin King.

Introduced 10 minutes into the second half, making just her second ever appearance for Ireland, the back row was to have a major impact on the match.

The Wicklow woman buzzed around the pitch, providing a second wind for the underdogs. She made all of half a metre for two tries, the second, in the 79th minute, coming after the world champions had retaken the lead.

That was to tie the game up and Dannah O’Brien landed the crucial conversion to seal a famous victory.

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King’s tries weren’t much to the naked eye but things of beauty to the purist, a hint of Brian O’Driscoll against England in 2009.

Prior to making her debut against Australia two weeks previous as a second-half substitute in the 36-10 win, King had lined up as a senior player just three times for Dublin side Old Belvedere.

She’d played underage,