From being told she might not ever run again to taking the Ireland captaincy at 22, it has been a whirlwind 12 months for Erin King.

She had just returned from a year-long knee injury when she got called into Ireland head coach Scott Bemand's office.

Initially she thought she was in trouble, but the question could not have been further from that as Bemand asked her to lead Ireland into the Six Nations.

After a career-threatening injury, it was a huge show of faith to a player who only had six caps to her name.

"I'm not normally speechless, but I was a little bit speechless in that moment," King told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast.

"I was immensely proud and it was an absolute privilege and honour to get to be asked to captain such an amazing team.

"I already felt like I was living a dream, getting to play alongside these legends, but to lead them out is just beyond my wildest dreams."

King's journey to the Women's Six Nations was not conventional.

Born in Australia to English parents, she moved around the world a lot when she was young.

A kid full of energy, she was introduced to rugby at a young age - so young in fact there is a photo of her outside the stadium at the Rugby World Cup final in 2003 in Sydney, when she was just a few weeks old.

The Irish connection came from her grandfather and, after living in Dubai, she moved to Wicklow as she started secondary school.

Reflecting on that time in her life, King said rugby became "the one constant".

"That's why I really enjoyed it because everything else was changing, like school and where I was living," King said.

"Wherever I've lived around the world, I've always been really accepted into rugby clubs and that's where I made friends."

After starting at Naas Rugby Club when she moved to Ireland, where she got told she was "too aggressive" as she played with girls for the first time, her love for the sport grew.

But it was not until the Covid-19 pandemic that she decided she wanted to make it her career.

King's time in green only started through Rugby Sevens, which she says played a "massive part" of her journey as she featured at the Paris Olympics as a 20-year-old.

"It really normalised getting to play in big stadiums in front of loads of people and there's a lot of pressure in Sevens.

"If you make one mistake and it's a try. I's probably a blessing now that I got thrown into the deep end like that."

She says that feeling "stuck with me" as she transitioned into the 15-a-side game following the Paris Games.