Rugby star Kay Wilson ran rings around the rugby boys, now she’s in the World Cup final

 
“No soft touch”: Kay Wilson during England’s semi-final against Ireland on Wednesday
Miranda Byrant15 August 2014

The parents of a graduate set to star in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final said she “ran rings around” her male opponents as a child after starting to play when she was just five years old.

Winger Kay Wilson is set to be in the team when England take on Canada at the Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris on Sunday.

She has already scored four tries during the tournament, including one in England’s 40-7 semi-final win over Ireland.

The 22-year-old, from Caterham, first started playing when she “followed her brothers” Ian, 25, and Paul, 27, into mini-rugby as a young girl. She also has a sister, Helen, aged 20.

She made her national debut in the Nations Cup in 2011 when England beat New Zealand 10-0 and also played for Bristol when she was studying in Cardiff.

Rising star: Kay Wilson at the Old Caterhamians club, in Surrey, as a young player

Her parents Suna and Steve Wilson, who are in Paris supporting, today told of their pride.

Mr Wilson, a retired Met Police officer who now works as a black cab driver, said: “You like to think your children could play international sport but I’m so proud of her. I knew she was a good player. When they started mini-rugby she played with the boys until she was 12.

“When the boys used to turn up they used to think she was a soft touch, but they soon realised she wasn’t and that she could run rings around them.”

Wilson had been juggling England training in Guildford and finishing her degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University, where she studied sport development, before graduating in July.

Her mother, 55, told the Standard: “It’s incredibly exciting, we’re so proud of her and all the girls. They’ve put in sterling performances, gone from strength to strength.”

She added: “She [Kay] managed to juggle her degree, training, driving up and down the M4 and also having some sort of a social life, which wasn’t easy, but she thinks it was worth the effort.

“I’m extremely confident that they can pull this off on Sunday.”

Following the World Cup, she said Wilson is considering moving back home to Caterham but that at the moment the family are not looking beyond the final.

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