The Ireland Sevens side to take part in the final World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Paris this weekend has been announced.
This is Ireland Men’s second consecutive World Series appearance, the team being invited to take part after qualifying for next season’s series after qualifying as a core team at the Hong Kong qualifying tournament.
Ireland did rather well during their outing in the London tournament last weekend with a 6th place finish “probably” well above expectations. You can view their results from London by clicking below.
[toggle title=”Ireland Sevens London 7s Results. ” load=”hide”]
Day 1 Results
England 17 Ireland 21 (Pool A)
Ireland scorers. TRY: Ian Fitzpatrick, Bryan Mollen, Mark McGrath. CON: Billy Dardis (2), Mark Roach.
New Zealand 34 Ireland 7 (Pool A)
Ireland scorers. TRY: Bryan Mollen. CON: Mark Roach
Scotland 12 Ireland 43 (Pool A)
Ireland scorers. TRY: Jordan Conroy (3), Harry McNulty, Ian Fitzpatrick, Jack Kelly, Mick McGrath. CON: Billy Dardis, Mark Roche (3)
The Day 1 results saw Ireland qualify for the Cup Competition on Day 2.
Day 2 Results
Fiji 33 Ireland 24 (Cup QF)
Ireland scorers. TRY: Mick McGrath (2), Jason Conroy, Ian Fitzpatrick. CON: Mark Roche, Billy Dardis
Canada 14 Ireland 33 (5th Place SF)
Ireland scorers. TRY: Hugo Lennox, B Mollen, Terry Kennedy (2), Billy Dardis. CON: Mark Roche, Billy Dardis (3)
New Zealand 35 Ireland 14 (5th Place Final)
Ireland scorers. TRY: Terry Kennedy, Billy Dardis. CON: Billy Dardis (2)
Ireland finished the tournament in a highly commendable 6th place which yielded them 12 series points. [/toggle]
However, with the series in its final throes for this season and the Olympic qualifiers all decided bar the shouting their wins against England, Scotland and Canada should be judged with a degree of caution.
Having said that, Ireland only lost to top four sides and it’s commendable that 10 players scored throughout the tournament. Billy Dardis topping the Ireland points tally with 28 points, Jordan Conroy and Mick McGrath leading the tries scored with four each.
As Ireland look for a team to compete in the Olympic qualifiers the team Manager Anthony Eddy has decided rest top scorer Conroy for the Paris 7s alongside the experienced Terry Kennedy, Adam Leavy and Mark Roche. With 56 series caps between them that’s quite a bit of experience to leave behind.
Shane Daly and Greg O’Shea bring in 9 series caps between them and the rest of the squad is made up by new boys Izzy Izuchukwu from St Mary’s and Old Belvedere’s Peter Mahar.
The Ireland squad for Paris, together with their World Series experience, is shown below.
Player
|
Club
|
Sevens World Series Stats | |
---|---|---|---|
Matches | Points | ||
Jack Daly | Garryowen | 5 | 0 |
Shane Daly | Cork Constitution | 5 | 0 |
Billy Dardis | UCD | 12 | 32 |
Ian Fitzpatrick | Lansdowne | 12 | 15 |
Izzy Izuchukwu * | Old Wesley | – | – |
Jack Kelly | Dublin University | 6 | 5 |
Hugo Lennox | Clontarf | 6 | 5 |
Harry McNulty | UCD | 17 | 15 |
Peter Maher* | Old Belvedere | – | – |
Mick McGrath | Clontarf | 6 | 20 |
Bryan Mollen | Blackrock College | 16 | 25 |
Greg O’Shea | Shannon | 4 | 0 |
Peter Sullivan | Lansdowne | 1 | 0 |
*New caps.
Ireland have been drawn in Pool A where they will face England and Fiji one again, Argentina completing the pool.
Ireland’s fixtures for the Paris 7s are as follows:
Saturday, June 1. Pool A
Ireland v Argentina – 11.28am (UK/IRE)
Ireland v England – 2.54pm (UK/IRE)
Ireland v Fiji, 6.42pm (UK/IRE)
Sunday, June 2. Play-Offs
TBD
The Paris 7s will be broadcast on Sky Sports Arena this weekend, while World Rugby will offer streaming in non geo-blocked locations.
Corrections, comments or questions?