THEY LEFT IT late. Then again they so often do but when it came to the crunch, the Ireland Sevens team delivered yet again, as they defeated Argentina 22-21 to reach the last-eight.
The win meant they finished second in their pool ahead of Kenya and Argentina but behind South Africa. Afterwards Kennedy told the IRFU’s website: “That kind of epitomised what Sevens is all about. We showed up for the first half, did nothing for the second half and then came back into it.
“Thankfully we showed good composure for a second time today, to do it at the end. Harry (McNulty) and Jordo (Conroy) picked the pool last week – we were giving them stick all week for giving us a filthy enough pool!
“I don’t know, this group continues to show heart every time to get through it. Harry and a couple of our other forwards did a great job off kick-off and it makes such a difference to us in the backs.”
Ireland had earlier beaten Kenya 17-14 thanks to Kennedy’s 16th-minute score – adding to touchdowns from Aaron O’Sullivan and Conroy – before Conroy and Kennedy both scored again in a 19-12 defeat to South Africa.
Their quarter final tomorrow is against New Zealand at 11.20am. Kennedy’s five tries have moved him onto 44 for the season, topping the series’ scoring charts by seven.
IRELAND 17 KENYA 14, Twickenham Stadium
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Aaron O’Sullivan, Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy; Con: Mark Roche
Kenya: Tries: Edmund Anya, Arcadius Huku; Cons: Anthony Omondi 2
HT: Ireland 5 Kenya 0
Team: Harry McNulty, Jack Kelly (capt), Fergus Jemphrey, Mark Roche, Hugo Lennox, Aaron O’Sullivan, Chay Mullins.
Subs used: Terry Kennedy, Bryan Mollen, Jordan Conroy, Billy Dardis, Andrew Smith.
IRELAND 12 SOUTH AFRICA 19, Twickenham Stadium
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy; Con: Billy Dardis
South Africa: Tries: Zain Davids, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Angelo Davids; Cons: Ronald Brown 2
HT: Ireland 0 South Africa 7
Team: Harry McNulty, Bryan Mollen, Matthew McDonald, Billy Dardis (capt), Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy, Hugo Lennox.
Subs used: Mark Roche, Chay Mullins, Jack Kelly. Not used: Fergus Jemphrey, Andrew Smith.
IRELAND 22 ARGENTINA 21, Twickenham Stadium
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Terry Kennedy 3, Jordan Conroy; Con: Mark Roche
Argentina: Tries: Matias Osadczuk, Marcos Moneta, Luciano Gonzalez; Cons: Tobias Wade 3
HT: Ireland 17 Argentina 0
Team: Harry McNulty, Jack Kelly (capt), Fergus Jemphrey, Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy, Mark Roche, Hugo Lennox.
Subs used: Bryan Mollen, Billy Dardis, Matthew McDonald, Chay Mullins. Not used: Andrew Smith.
