THE IRELAND MEN’S and Women’s Sevens teams have both reached the Cup semi-final stage of the HSBC SVNS Series’ Australian leg in Perth.
Both sides finished as pool runners-up, with Allan Temple Jones’ women overcoming Fiji and James Topping’s men defeating France in their respective quarter-final showdowns.
Meath Gaelic football star Vikki Wall made her Ireland Sevens debut in the group stage win over Japan. Two-time All-Ireland senior winner Wall, who also enjoyed a stint in the AFLW with North Melbourne, made the sensational switch last summer.
A @SVNSSeries debut for Vikki Wall in Perth! 😍#Ireland7s pic.twitter.com/3cW1RY0LJv
— Ireland 7s (@Ireland7s) January 27, 2024
While Wall played the first half, Béibhinn Parsons scored a hat-trick of tries in the 26-7 victory over Japan. Eve Higgins and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe led the scoring charge in the 14-12 success against Fiji.
Ireland women, set for their first top-four finish since Sydney last January, face Great Britain next overnight, with Australia and USA going head-to-head on the other side.
The men, meanwhile, go up against Argentina in a repeat of last month’s semi-final in Cape Town. The Pumas prevailed on a scoreline of 26-19 en route to lifting the title.
Zac Ward’s 17th-minute try decided an absorbing quarter-final meeting with France as the Irish triumphed 21-14. Terry Kennedy’s second-half brace helped them defeat Australia 19-10 in their final pool game.
Ireland Men’s Sevens Squad (Perth)
- Niall Comerford (UCD RFC)
- Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC)
- Sean Cribbin (Suttonians RFC)
- Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC)
- Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College RFC)
- Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC)
- Harry McNulty (UCD RFC) (capt)
- Bryan Mollen (Blackrock College RFC)
- Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC)
- Chay Mullins (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht/IQ Rugby)
- Dylan O’Grady (UCD RFC)
- Connor O’Sullivan (Lansdowne FC)
- Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC)
- Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC)
Ireland Women’s Sevens Squad (Perth)
- Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
- Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC)
- Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC/Blackrock College RFC)
- Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC)
- Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)
- Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
- Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC)
- Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
- Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)
- Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC)
- Lucy Mulhall (Wicklow RFC) (capt)
- Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC)
- Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock College RFC)
- Vikki Wall (Ireland Sevens).
