Staggering Olympic rugby moment watched 34 MILLION times as Ireland star replicates Springboks great

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Ireland's Erin King with incredible lift in Olympic Sevens.

Ireland's Erin King with incredible lift in Olympic Sevens.

Rugby very much entered the wider public consciousness this week when a stunning take from a restart went viral on social media.

With the Olympics kicking off recently, the sport has gained greater recognition, especially in the USA, which is a target area for World Rugby.

They watched as their country, inspired by the now global icon Ilona Maher, claimed bronze in the sevens, but they were also left stunned by a moment in the Ireland v Great Britain clash, a clip that has been watched 34 millions times so far.

Incredible strength

It was only a minor contest as the two rivals competed in a seventh/eighth placed match, with Britain 28-5 in front midway through the second period.

However, there was a thrilling moment when Erin King lifted Emily Lane above her head to take the restart.

Lane had to stretch to reach the ball and, as a result, King could have easily lost her grip, which would have led to her team-mate suffering a heavy fall, but the Ireland star showed incredible strength to hold her up.

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It has been seen before in rugby, most notably by Springboks legend Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, who did it a couple of times in his career.

However, King’s effort unsurprisingly went viral given that it occurred at the Olympics, with the world having their eyes on Paris over these huge couple of weeks.

Social media reaction

People across the globe were in awe at what they saw, with one person writing on X, formerly Twitter: “Good Lawd. That’s a linebacker if I have ever seen one.”

Another person added: “11 got that superwoman strength. Insane,” while someone else put: “I’m putting my daughter into rugby this is impressive.”

It was a fantastic moment and one which put plenty of eyes on the sport. There were hopes that including sevens in the Olympics would boost rugby’s profile and, judging by this clip, it is having the desired impact.

Many people who weren’t aware of it before certainly are now and hopefully it is something the game’s bigwigs can capitalise on.

Popular rugby analyst, Squidge, wrote: “I’ve seen more people from outside our lovely bubble talking about rugby than ever before this week, that includes past Olympics, World Cups, the lot.

“The reason? Two names, Antoine Dupont & Ilona Maher. Two proper superstars on and off the pitch, one for either half of the sport.”

READ MORE: Aaron Smith: ‘Antoine Dupont will be one of the greatest to play our game… he has changed rugby’

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