Advertisement
Foster Horan fends off an opponent against Ukraine. Billy Stickland/INPHO
Road to Tokyo

Both Irish sides qualify for 7s quarter-finals with Olympic spot on the line

The men’s team will face Germany tomorrow morning, while the women’s side have earned themselves a clash with England.

BOTH OF THE Irish 7s sides competing at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Colomiers this weekend have safely navigated their Pool stages, and thus remain in contention for a spot at Tokyo 2020. 

The winner of each tournament earns a spot at the Olympics, whole the sides finishing second and third qualify for the World Rugby Repechage which will take place next summer.

The mens’ side will face Germany in their quarter-final tomorrow morning, having been pipped to the top of their pool by Spain. 

Anthony Eddy’s side opened with a 41-0 battering of Ukraine, and then followed it up with another high-scoring win against Russia – this time winning 52-14. 

Things were much more difficult in the final group game against Spain, who raced into a 17-0 lead at half-time. However, tries from Billy Dardis, Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy saw Ireland battle back to steal a 17-17 draw. That wasn’t enough to nudge Spain from the top of the pool, however, with Ireland bumped to second on points difference. 

That means they will face Germany in the quarters, having beaten them 17-10 at last month’s Moscow 7s. Should they win, they will face either France or Georgia in the semi-finals. 

Elsewhere, the women’s side also finished second in their Pool and have earned a quarter-final clash with England. 

Like the men’s side, they breezed through their opening couple of games – 48-0 against Romania and then 50-0 against Czech Republic – before slipping up in the final game with Spain, losing 19-5. 

England lie in wait in tomorrow morning’s semi-final, a side they beat 24-19 at the same stage of the tournament in Marcoussis a fortnight ago. Should they win, either France or Romania lie in wait in the last four. 

The men’s game with Germany kicks off at 11.06am Irish time, while the women’s clash with England kicks off two hours earlier, at 9.06am. 

The games will be streamed live on www.rugbyeurope.tv.

Your Voice
Readers Comments
7
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel