The Queensland Rugby Union is delighted to announce the signing of world-class Wallaroos prop Eva Karpani.
The coup means the crowd-pleasing forward will play for the Queensland Reds in the 2025 Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s competition as her springboard to the Rugby World Cup in England later that year.
Karpani’s commitment for up to two years is a huge positive. It will not only bring set piece authority to the pack but enable Reds fans to enjoy the most dynamic ball-running front-rower in world rugby.
Her exploits in skittling defenders on her running rampages have netted 10 Test tries and a long list of viral try moments in Super W and club rugby.
Karpani, 28, will join the Reds as their most experienced player with 31 Tests plus multiple Super W titles from her six seasons with the NSW Waratahs.
“It’s an awesome honour but also a great opportunity to be living in Queensland and now playing for the Reds,” Karpani said.
“For me, living here for two years and being with the Waratahs for six, it played on my mind to play for the Reds. It was all about timing and this season is the right time.
“I’m also excited to play alongside some of the girls from my club at Bond University who are already Reds players or coming through the ranks.
“I’m keen to see what we can do as the Reds in 2025. For me, especially as a senior player, it’s also about paving the way and helping the next generation.”
The popular Karpani’s presence will add confidence and a vastly-experienced mentor into the front-row mix at the rebuilding Reds.
Karpani is also joining the Reds on a high after her prominent role in the Wallaroos winning the recent WXV 2 tournament in South Africa.
“For women’s rugby, the sport is just getting better. It has been super important getting more international games this year,” Karpani said.
“More Super Rugby girls have been able to debut for the Wallaroos so the quality of our sport is rising.
“The depth is improving which is also what I saw at the Reds level when I had the chance to connect with some of the up-and-coming girls in Tonga.”
Karpani has already made her Queensland debut, having accepted an invitation to play against Tonga on the July tour.
For Queensland Reds Women’s High Performance Manager Nico Andrade, the signing of Karpani is a major plus on multiple levels.
“We are getting a player of personal and professional quality who is backing our program to help develop her to go to the 2025 World Cup as the best tighthead prop in the world,” Andrade said.
“The presence that Eva brings as a high-performance athlete and human will set a really strong foundation for our program.
“Eva is absolutely world class and that’s with her skills around the set piece and those point-of-difference skills with her ball-playing and ball-running.”
