Another step taken on road to Rio for Ireland at Women’s Sevens Series

It was another memorable weekend for Irish women’s rugby as Anthony Eddy’s charges secured their place in the 2015/16 Women’s Sevens Series at the end of an eventful two-day Qualifier Tournament in UCD.

The Green Army’s dramatic 13-12 reversal against Japan in the showpiece encounter meant it was something of a bittersweet finale for the host nation. But even though she was disappointed to have lost the competition’s Cup decider, the influential Jenny Murphy was still delighted to be back on the World Series.

“Coming into this weekend, our ultimate goal was a top two finish, which we’ve achieved. But in saying that, when you get into a final, you want towin it. Unfortunately we didn’t do that,” the Kildare native remarked.

“We were a bit naive at times and made a lot of errors which cost us in the end. Going from 12-0 up and then losing right at the very end is a hard pill to swallow, but ultimately we’ve achieved what we wanted to. So, I have to be happy enough with being back in the World Series.”

Indeed, Ireland secured their place on the series with a thrilling 26-14 win over South Africa in the penultimate round yesterday. This was revenge of sorts for Ireland following their Pool C defeat to the same opponents on Saturday, and after starting the day with an impressive success over China, Murphy revealed the squad were pleased to get a second chance to overcome the Springboks.

“That loss on the first day against South Africa was tough, but I think it worked out well for us. We came all guns blazing on day two, especially against China, a big physical team. We coped well with that, and then we finally got a chance to have a second crack at South Africa.”

Now they are in the World Series, it is hoped this will benefit Ireland as they aim to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio. Murphy feels it will be a massive help towards their Olympic prospects, and with just one spot available in 2016’s World Repechage, Ireland aim to make it theirs.

“You need to be playing against the best to get up to the best. All the best teams are on the World Series, and now we are too. It will massively help come Olympic qualification.

“There’s only one spot left, and we aim to take it. To do that, we need tobe playing against those big teams. That’s what we’re going to be doing,” Murphy added.

Before losing to South Africa in their third pool game, Ireland impressed with good wins over Mexico (64-0) and Hong Kong (50-0). Alison Miller contributed four tries in the latter fixture and she joined Claire Keohane in recording a brace in their quarter-final win over China.

Captain Lucy Muhall amassed an outstanding personal tally of 16 points in Ireland’s superb semi-final display, while Amee-Leigh Crowe crossed the whitewash on two occasions in the subsequent final against Japan.