IRELAND’S WOMEN CAN clinch their qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with victory over Fiji on Sunday morning.
A Ireland win would ensure that they finish no worse than sixth place in Toulouse, and collect 10 points which would ensure that they cannot be overtaken in the fight for the final automatic qualification place.
Allan Temple-Jones’s side entered this week’s final stop on the World Rugby Sevens Series vying with Fiji and Great Britain for qualification, and all three sides kept their hopes alive as they progressed to Saturday’s quarter-finals.
Ireland went down 17-7 against reigning champions Australia, Eve Higgins’ late try — converted by Lucy Mulhall — proving to be little more than a consolation.
That left the door open for either Fiji or Great Britain to take advantage but neither could, Fiji losing 22-17 against the USA while Great Britain suffered a 28-10 defeat against hosts France.
With all three sides now facing into the fifth place semi-finals, victory for Ireland against Fiji at 8am on Sunday would send the team through to Paris irrespective of results elsewhere.
Great Britain will take on either New Zealand or Japan in the other fifth-place semi-final at 8.22am.
In the men’s tournament, Ireland suffered a 35-0 defeat to New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
Moses Leo set New Zealand on course with a brace of first-half tries before Akuila Rokolisoa added another to leave it 21-0 at the break.
Brady Rush and Scott Curry both got their names on the scoresheet in the second half as New Zealand set up a semi-final against the winner of Saturday evening’s meeting of France and Great Britain, while Ireland will face the loser of that game in the fifth-place semi-finals.
