A former Dubai Hurricanes mini, who first tried rugby as a five-year old at The Sevens, said it was “surreal” after returning to the ground to make her World Series debut with Ireland.
Erin King played for Hurricanes, who have been tenants at The Sevens grounds on the Al Ain Road since it opened in 2008, for five years while a pupil at Dubai British School.
She subsequently moved on to Doha, and then five years ago, to Ireland. The Australia-born teenager said she was stunned when she found out she would be debuting in the international game at a tournament she has known so well since childhood.
“It has been crazy,” King said, after Ireland finished their tournament with a 26-12 win over Canada on Saturday.
“Just moving around here I have kept bumping into people saying they remember me from when I was that high, and playing for the Hurricanes. It is crazy. It is surreal how it has come full circle. It just feels crazy.
“My dad played in Saudi and all around the Gulf. When we were here, we were always at the club and my brothers played. I came along and I loved it.
“I think I was the only girl at the start, playing with all the boys up until I was around 14. I just loved it.”
Having only turned 18 in October, and as a relative sevens novice having taken up the abridged format at the start of this year, King had had merely harboured hopes of making the Irish development side this season.
To her surprise, she landed a dream debut on the World Series when she was called up to tour the city she once called home, for the back-to-back tournaments in Dubai.
Her official bow came in the behind-closed-doors tournament a week ago. Six days later, she ran out in a more familiar environment in front of packed stands, as fans returned to the Emirates Dubai Sevens.
Her rise in the game has been startling, given her introduction to competitive sevens came at a tournament in Spain as recently as October.
“I only started playing sevens in January,” King said.
“I played my first sevens tournament two months ago in Elche, was working myself up onto the team, and was hoping for a spot on the development team.
“I found out I was going to be playing on the series, and I couldn’t believe it.
“I want to earn my spot on the team permanently now. I am working towards it, and learning new things all the time.”
King’s appearance at the Dubai Sevens was not without its personal highlights. In Ireland’s last pool match of Day 1 on Friday, against an imposing United States side, she made a brilliant try saving tackle, much to the approval of the boisterous DHL Stand.
However, she said nothing could top the feeling of running out in green for the first time.
“Just getting to play,” she said of her favourite moment of the weekend.
“The whole experience with all the fans here is completely different. Last week it was nice to ease into it without any fans.
“I have been coming to the Sevens since I was five years of age, so to be able to come here and finally play on Pitch 1 is just surreal.
“We have improved loads from last week. We lost to Canada last week. We came ninth last week, so to come away this week having improved is great.
“We beat GB as well, who we lost to last week, so we are learning and improving, which is great.”
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
|
1.
|
United States
|
|
2.
|
China
|
|
3.
|
UAE
|
|
4.
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6.
|
Canada
|
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
|
8.
|
Australia
|
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Boston%20Strangler
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Matt%20Ruskin%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKeira%20Knightley%2C%20Carrie%20Coon%2C%20Alessandro%20Nivola%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
