Katie’s Rugby World Cup Sevens adventure begins today

Mullingar’s Katie Heffernan is expected to feature for Ireland’s Women’s Rugby Sevens side, as they kick off their Rugby World Cup Sevens adventure in South Africa in the coming hours.

Ireland take on Brazil in their round of 16 opener at Cape Town Stadium at 12.54pm (Irish time), with the winner due to take on the winners of Colombia and New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

The match can be watched on RTÉ Player.

Along with England, Poland and Spain, Ireland are among four European qualifiers for the tournament and, including automatic qualifiers France, are one of five European teams at the finals.

Mullingar RFC star Katie, a former student of Loreto College, Mullingar who turned 24 yesterday (Thursday), was spotted by the Irish setup while playing for Mullingar at a Sevens blitz.

She was then selected for the Ireland U18 side and joined the Ireland Women’s Sevens programme, scoring a try on her debut at the Langford Sevens in 2017.

Earlier this morning, Ireland’s Men’s Sevens side progressed to the quarter-finals with a 24-0 win over Portugal.