Centre Aoife Dalton is about to move centre stage when Ireland make their first appearance at a World Cup in eight years and the Offaly native is thankful to those who helped her along the way.
The Clara woman is 22 and has 24 caps. She was voted as player of the year last season.
And as the team prepare to take on Japan on Sunday in their opening Rugby World Cup match, Dalton is sure there will be no shortage of well-wishers from those who helped her get where she is, especially her mother club, Tullamore RFC.
The Midlands League club has a fine record in producing provincial and international players.
Megan Burns, Nichola Fryday and Ailsa Hughes have come through the club, as well as Peter Bracken, Cormac Izuchukwu and Jordan Conroy.
Asked about representing her club, town and county, alongside golfer Shane Lowry from Clara and motor-racer Alex Dunne from Clonbollogue, she breaks into a smile.
"It's fantastic, it’s like a little hidden gem, Offaly is," she says.
"For Tullamore, with the catchment area they have and what’s available to them, a few rural towns in Offaly and a bit of Laois, but what they’ve produced over the last couple of years is [amazing].
"They punch above their weight.
"I’d say they were one of the first clubs to have a girls minis section set up. I’m so lucky that club supported me.
"They got me involved in the first place. A match-day squad that I’m named in doesn’t go by without hearing from one of them.
"I owe a lot to them.
"My mam and dad [too]. They’ve supported me the whole way.
"I’m from a big GAA house so that was the sport I was going to have to play until I got offered a contract here.
"They would do anything at the drop of a hat for me, bring me anywhere. I owe a lot to them and the support they give me."
Dalton, who plays her club rugby with Old Belvedere and Leinster, made her debut against Japan on the 2022 tour and was named young player of the year in 2023.
A stellar Six Nations campaign saw her named the senior player of the year by her peers in May.
"I owe a lot to the coaches," she adds of her current form.
"They’ve helped me find my strengths and build on that over the last year.
"I was probably a bit raw coming in, I was only 19 and hadn’t really a clue what I was doing.
"It's the group around me as well. They give me so much confidence to go out and do that."
For now the focus is on Sunday’s opponents, who are ranked 11th in the world.
"It’s all Japan at the minute," says Dalton.
"They have threats all over the pitch, their kicking game, they’ve a lot of variety.
"They are very good at the breakdown, getting over balls and stuff like that so we’ll have to make sure we are on our game in those areas."
Watch the Women's Rugby World Cup with RTÉ Sport featuring 26 matches across RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and RTÉ One, including all of Ireland's group games
Watch Ireland v Japan in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday from 11.30am on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on 2fm
