Sofia Stefan (born 12 May 1992) is an Italian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. She plays utility back at Valsugana. She plays in the positions of three quarters wing or sometimes

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

Italy women's national rugby union team Italy women's national rugby union team are the national women's rugby union team that represents Italy at international level. It has been administered by the Italian Rugby Federation since 1991; previously, since its inception in 1985 up to 19 ...

. She has 73 caps.

Career

She was from Padua but grew up between Vigodarzere and Camposampiero, where she completed her high school studies. She came to rugby relatively late, around the age of 17, with Valsugana. Almost immediately she stood out at the national level and she made her debut in Italy for women at the 2011 FIRA international championship. In 2012, she took part in the European championship in Italy finishing third after England and France. In 2013, she was selected for the rugby sevens national team which competed at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

, in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

where Italy won the silver, losing 10–30 in the final to Russia. In the summer of 2013, she moved to Rennes, studying at the

Rennes 2 University Rennes 2 University (UR2; french: Université Rennes 2) is a public university located in Upper Brittany, France. It is one of the four universities in the Academy of Rennes.The two others are: UBO (Brest), Western Brittany, and UBS in Lorient - ...

. She competed at the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dubl ...

2015 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2015 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby unio ...

, and

2016 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2016 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2016 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union ...

. At the

2023 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for marketing purposes, was the 22nd series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, It ...

, she started against France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefan, Sofia Living people 1992 births Italian female rugby union players Italy women's international rugby union players Sportspeople from Padua European Games competitors for Italy Rugby sevens players at the 2023 European Games