From BOD to Johnny to Paris 2024, Irish rugby enjoys another big Stade de France day
"Yes, there’s expectation," said Ireland Sevens captain Harry McNulty. "Yes, we came second in the world. It’s unbelievable, but I still know in the back of my head that every team in this competition can beat everyone else"
An Olympic quarter-final beckons for Ireland at the Stade de France tonight.
It's a venue that has hosted some historic days for Irish rugby, going back to Brian O'Driscoll's famous hat-trick over 24 years ago and up to Johnny Sexton's 'Le Drop' in 2018.
With the pressure off, Ireland's Sevens hope that on Saturday they can add an Olympic medal to a small but sweet legacy list in a city that was once a graveyard to Irish hopes
READ MORE:Zac Ward meets Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz - then beats up South Africa on Olympic debut
READ MORE: Ireland's Men's Sevens up and running with opening Paris 2024 victory
In winning their opening two Pool C games against South Africa and Japan in front of a full house yesterday, James Topping's squad got just the start that they wanted.
It means that they can play with freedom against the competition's top seeds New Zealand today (3.30pm Irish time). Beat the Kiwis and Ireland will play the eighth ranked quarter-finalist tonight.
For all but Hugo Keenan, their late addition from the Leinster and Ireland 15s side, this was the players' first taste of playing at the Stade. Most of those in the standings were there to roar on Antoine Dupont and France, but this was the environment and atmosphere these Irish players have dreamed of since they were kids.
Mercilessly swatted out of contention on their debut Olympics appearance in Tokyo after qualifying just weeks before, Ireland qualified a year out this time.
They put in place their game plan in impressive fashion over a World Series campaign that saw them finish second overall and, with a crucial opener against South Africa to negotiate, there were nerves on show. With a try in each half from Jordan Conroy and Terry Kennedy, the team's top scorers, Ireland earned a 10-5 win.
It should have been more because they dominated for the entirety of the first half - Conroy knocked on with the line at his mercy before he crossed comfortably for his five-pointer on the stroke of half-time.
South Africa tried to rally at the start of the second and although the powerful Zac Ward rolled his ankle and came off, and Keenan was called ashore after a prominent showing soon after, Ireland had more than enough.
The later game against Japan saw Ireland turn down the intensity. Kennedy raced clear for an early converted try but Ireland were fortunate that indiscipline didn't cost them at the other end before Kennedy again broke away, then unselfishly passed to Chay Mullins under the posts.
Skipper Harry McNulty got in on the act, as did Niall Comerford and Mullins before conceding a late try to Shotaro Tsuoka, but the Ballinahinch powerhouse Ward had the last say in a 40-5 rout.
McNulty admitted: "We could definitely feel some little extra nerves over the last couple of days, but we were just ready to go. We were in the Village waiting, and ready to go, ready to go - and I’m so glad we were able to get that win and release some pressure.
"Yes, there’s expectation. Yes, we came second in the world. It’s unbelievable, but I still know in the back of my head that every team in this competition can beat everyone else.
"So it’s hard to push that out to the public and for them to understand, because there are nations here who might not be known as rugby strongholds from a 15s point of view.
"But Sevens is actually huge throughout the world and most nations that are learning rugby, learn through Sevens, and they can be at a way higher level. The ranking system is one to 12 and 12 is so much closer to one than in any other sport as well.
"So every time I get a chance to speak I try to put that forward so that people...yes, they have those expectations, but it's to understand what those expectations really are. And if a loss happens to one of those teams, it’s not as weird as it may seem.
"It's more down to us and how we play. We don’t get beaten, we more lose games ourselves because we don’t play to our system. Expectation is there but we just have to keep them low, limit ours and just play our game - enjoy it."
As for Dupont, he and France almost blew it yesterday. They drew their first game against the USA and came close to losing to Uruguay. It underlined McNulty's point about the sport being hard to call.
"And that’s great," said 31-year-old McNulty. "How cool is it that we get to play in a sport where there is so much excitement and you’re not looking at a sport going, 'Oh, these five games were a write-off and I’m going to go and do something else with my day'.
"Whereas you can go, 'You know what, this is going to be a really interesting game and I don’t know what’s going to come out of this one'.
"And if there is a bad game, I always say go and put on the kettle and have a cup of tea and a sandwich, in 14 minutes it’s over and you can come back and watch another game!"
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
Related
Share this page
Guest Posts by Easy Branches
