IRELAND’S MEN’S AND women’s teams found themselves in play-offs for 11th place at the New Zealand Sevens in Hamilton, with contrasting outcomes for both sides.
While the men went down to Scotland, the women recorded a hard-fought victory against Brazil.
A 17-7 defeat to France — coupled with Canada’s win over Spain — had ended the men’s side’s hopes of advancing from Pool C into a semi-final.
Despite two tries from Terry Kennedy and a 14th of the campaign for Jordan Conroy, Ireland had to settle for 12th place owing to a 24-19 loss to the Scots.
With the sides locked at 19-19 on the final hooter, 19-year-old Megan Burns proved to be the match-winner for the Ireland women’s team as she broke through the Brazilian defence to score a last-gasp try. Ireland’s earlier tries had come courtesy of Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Lucy Mulhall, Hannah Tyrrell.
It was a positive end to the week for Stan McDowell’s side, who had concluded the pool stages with a 14-7 loss to Spain earlier on Sunday.
New Zealand captured both the men’s and women’s titles, repeating their double success at the previous tournament in Cape Town.
The men had a 27-5 victory over France to claim their home contest for the first time in four years, while the women won their third consecutive tournament by beating Canada 24-7.
Next on the calendar is the Sydney Sevens, which begin on Saturday, 1 February.
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