Sofia Stefan
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.jpg) Stefan in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 May 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Padua, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 59 kg (130 lb; 9 st 4 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sofia Stefan (born 12 May 1992) is an Italian rugby union player. She plays as a Scrum-half at an international level for Italy's national women's team, she also plays as a Wing or Centre.
Rugby career
[edit]Stefan, originally from Padua but raised between Vigodarzere and Camposampiero, where she completed her high school studies. She came into rugby relatively late, around the age of 17, when she joined Valsugana.
She immediately came to prominence at a national level and made her international debut in the Italian women's team at the 2011 FIRA Women's European Trophy competition.
In 2012 she took part in the European Championship in Italy, finishing third after England and France. The following year she was selected for the national seven-a-side team that took part in the 2013 Summer Universiade competition in Kazan, Russia, where Italy won silver, they were beaten 10–30 in the final by Russia.
In the summer of 2013 she moved to France to play for Stade Rennais, while at the same time undertaking studies in motor sciences at the Rennes 2 University. She was one of the crucial players in Italy's qualification for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup, they obtained four victories, two each against Wales and Scotland in the Six Nations of 2015 and 2016 (a fifth, against France in 2015, which was irrelevant for the purposes of qualification), she was one of the 28 athletes called up for the world championship in Ireland, albeit in the role of wing or centre.
In 2023 she was awarded the International Rugby Players Women's Try of the Year for her try against Ireland during the Women's Six Nations Championship.[1][2]
Stefan joined English club, Sale Sharks, for the 2024–25 Premiership Women's Rugby season.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Marlie Packer crowned World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year". www.women.rugby. 2023-11-04. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- ^ "WORLD RUGBY AWARDS, SOFIA STEFAN VINCE IL PREMIO INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S TRY OF THE YEAR". Federazione Italiana Rugby (in Italian). 2023-11-04. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- ^ Diamond, Sam (2024-07-17). "SHARKS WOMEN CONFIRM NEW SIGNINGS". Sale Sharks. Retrieved 2024-10-04.