n 2020, Suttonians RFC welcomed Kate Farrell into the Senior Women’s squad. Kate joined the team with a very impressive resume, which she has continued to build upon over the past 2 years. Kate began her rugby career later than one may expect for such a successful player. She began playing with Gorey RFC at 12 years old. Even though she comes from a rugby driven household, Kate chose other sports such as horse riding over rugby as she grew-up. Influenced by secondary school friends Kate was finally convinced to join her sister Lauren and two brothers at Gorey RFC as she caved and finally tried rugby.
Unlike the standard new comer to rugby, Kate came from a rugby loving family and had been learning the game from an early age, whether she realised it or not. As a result, Kate may not have been playing the sport, but she was no stranger to the game. As a result, she took up the game quickly and opportunities began to present themselves.
What began as some fun with friends quickly developed into something more. Kate began to see other girls from Gorey playing representative rugby for Leinster. As Kate entered her final year in school she began playing representative rugby for Leinster U18’s. During her time in Gorey Community School, she was introduced to 7’s purely because their school could not field a full 15’s team. It may not have been intentional, but the Gorey Community School girls 7’s team went on to win 3 All Ireland medals.
As Kate’s time in school came to a close, her rugby career began to blossom. During the summer of 2019, Kate was invited to join the Irish U18’s women’s sevens team. She continued to impress Coach Anthony Eddie and as a result was offered a place within the Senior Irish Sevens program. Just 2 months after finishing her Leaving Cert, and being invited to the Irish U18’s sevens program, Kate had secured a contract with the Senior Irish Women’s Sevens program.
In 2020, Kate made the move to Dublin and joined our beloved Suttonians RFC. Kate’s sister Lauren was already firmly cemented into the women’s team here in Sutton and Suttonians RFC seemed like the most suitable option. “The main thing I love about this place is that everyone is so supportive”, Kate explained as she spoke about her love for Suttonians. She continued to highlight major aspects of the club that she has really enjoyed, “there’s such a good balance of good craic and actually wanting to do well”.
Since 2019 Kate’s success with the Irish Women’s Sevens program has continued to grow year on year. She was selected for her first World Series only a few months after joining the program but unfortunately was forced to wait a little longer for that first cap due to COVID-19. However, at the beginning of 2022, she received her first cap and attended her first World Series in Dubai. Since then, she has played in every World Series event travelling to place such as Spain, France and more recently Los Angeles. She picked up her first silver World Series medal in Seville, Spain only a number of months after her debut. In the middle of her World Series success with the Irish Sevens, she contributed to the team’s successful qualification for the Sevens World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. This weekend, the 9th, 10th and 11th of September, Kate will be representing Ireland in the Sevens World Cup. Kate continues to strive for further success in the Irish Sevens setup, “my goal was to make every World Series team and I want to continue to do that”.
Kate is one of many brilliant examples of our members and players progressing their careers and representing our club with distinction. We are extremely proud to have Kate in Suttonians RFC and wish her the best in her future Irish Sevens career, especially this weekend at the Sevens World Cup.
