The journey to international rugby for many female players is often anything but conventional, and Kathryn Dane’s path is no exception. Dane first picked up a rugby ball at the age of eight at Enniskillen Rugby Club in Co. Fermanagh. Competing with the boys until the under-12 level, a common reality for young girls in rugby, Dane's determination was evident from the start. “I was very small and about half the size of the boys, and the coaches were apprehensive about me joining in, but my parents were quite stubborn, so they had no choice but to let me muck in,” she recalls.
As options to play rugby dwindled during her teenage years, Dane transitioned to soccer, becoming an underage Northern Ireland soccer player, while also pursuing hockey. Despite the challenges, she made the most of a tag rugby team at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, helping to transform them into Ulster U-18 champions at full contact, 15-a-side rugby. “It was really quite funny because we didn’t expect to do well at all, but it just shows that if you have a solid core of players who’ve built chemistry through tag rugby, anything is possible,” she says.
Dane’s talent didn’t go unnoticed, and she soon found herself playing alongside seasoned players like Grace Davitt and Larissa Muldoon at Ulster. A move to Dublin to study Physiotherapy at Trinity College Dublin led her to Old Belvedere Rugby Club, where she joined forces with former Grand Slam champions Sophie Spence and Nora Stapleton. “I fell in love with the family atmosphere at Old Belvedere. Through playing with them and winning an All-Ireland final that year, I earned a spot as scrumhalf for the Irish women’s rugby team at the age of 18, while still in my first year at Trinity.”
After completing her undergraduate degree, Dane was encouraged by Professor Fiona Wilson at Trinity to continue her research in physiotherapy, particularly focusing on athlete performance and safety. Securing an Irish Research Council grant, she embarked on a PhD at Trinity that focused on safety and optimal tackle outcomes in women’s rugby. Her research delved into best practices, player perspectives, coaching expertise, and video analysis. The findings highlighted a lack of direct research to guide coaching practices and safety policies in women’s rugby, while also revealing the barriers faced by female players, including fear of injury, late starts in the sport, and underdeveloped performance pathways. Dane’s work offers a crucial blueprint for future practice, policy, and research.
Ironically, despite her extensive research on player safety, Dane faced her own major health challenge in November 2022, which had nothing to do with rugby. An undiagnosed arteriovenous malformation (AVM), an abnormal tangle of blood vessels, triggered a potentially life-threatening brain haemorrhage. Fortunately, Ed Slattery, the IRFU’s Head of Athletic Performance for the Women’s Pathway and National Team, was on hand when it occurred and rushed her to Connolly Hospital within 15 minutes.
“It was just a normal day of training. I was rehabbing an ACL injury when I felt a massive pain behind my right eye and at the back of my head. I didn’t feel great, but until that moment, I was fine,” she recalls. “Ed noticed right away that my face had dropped. I didn’t notice it myself, but I knew something was wrong. The team doctor, who was luckily in the gym at the time, quickly assessed me and suspected a stroke. Within minutes, I was in an ambulance on the way to Connolly Hospital.”
As a chartered physiotherapist, Dane’s medical knowledge was both a blessing and a burden. Recognising the symptoms allowed her to stay calm and react quickly, but it also meant she was acutely aware of the gravity of her situation. “It was scary and shocking, but I knew what was happening. It wasn’t confirmed until I got to the hospital that it was a haemorrhage from an AVM that I was born with but never knew existed.”
The timing and location of the incident were critical. Had it occurred elsewhere, without immediate access to medical professionals, the outcome could have been much worse. “The speed at which everything happened was incredible. I had left-sided weakness almost immediately and needed help to get off the gym floor. I’m just so thankful it happened where it did, with medical support right there.”
The recovery process was long and difficult. After two weeks in the hospital, Dane faced months of sleeplessness, headaches, and the emotional toll of processing the incident. “The emotional aspect was the hardest part. It took two or three months before I really started to digest what had happened. I was in survival mode, just trying to sleep, eat, and recover. We’re not used to making time for emotional recovery as elite athletes, but that was a huge part of my journey back.”
Despite the challenges, Dane was determined to return to rugby. She sought a second opinion on her ability to play again and met all the milestones necessary for her comeback. In July 2024, she made her return in a warm-up match against Connacht—a significant milestone in a week that also saw her submit her PhD thesis titled “Playing Catch-Up: Safety and Optimal Tackle Outcomes in Women’s Rugby,” marking the culmination of almost four years of intensive work.
Kathryn Dane’s return to rugby is nothing short of inspiring. Her journey reflects not only her resilience and determination as an elite athlete but also her commitment to advancing women’s rugby both on and off the field. Recently, Kathryn was called up to the Barbarian's women's squad who faced South Africa in September, a career highlight for her. While the Barbarians faced a loss in that game, Kathryn's future in rugby promises many more victories and achievements ahead.
This article was published in Trinity Today (Autumn 2024 edition), read more here.