Olympic berth will change Irish hockey ‘forever’

Craig Fulton believes Ireland’s qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio “will change the sport forever” here.

The Green Machine’s nervous three-month wait to learn their Olympic fate ended in the early hours of yesterday morning as Australia’s 3-2 Oceania Cup final win over New Zealand in Stratford confirmed their berth in Rio.

It means Ireland will have a hockey team at the Olympics for the first time in 108 years, while the country has not been represented at a Games in any field team sport since 1948.