Ireland's 7s teams capped off a phenomenal weekend for Irish rugby with both the mens and womens sides qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Cape Town.
The women got through as one of the four semi-finalists from this weekend's Rugby World Cup Sevens European Qualifier, after defeating Portugal 36-0 in the quarter-finals.
It was an easy run an Irish side who finished in the 2021/22 World 7s Series (tied on points with 2nd placed France).
They began their World Cup qualifying campaign yesterday by defeating the Wales 62-0 and Germany 27-0, and this morning they beat the Czech Republic to complete the pool stage.
Ireland through to the 2022 World Cup #IrishRugby #irish7s pic.twitter.com/5cmspnzMiL
— Colmán Stanley (@ColmnStanley1) July 17, 2022
The ever brilliant Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, World 7s Series top try scorer, bagged Ireland's first against Portugal, before Lucy Mulhall finished off a lovely offload-laden try soon after.
The pick of the bunch came right at the end of the first half. Ireland chose a scrum just metres from their own line, after being awarded a penalty for a neck tackle on Murphy Crowe. From the scrum, Mulhall was sent scorching down the left wing, and while she was caught, she skillfully offloaded to Eve Higgins who finished off the length of the field score.
The second-half saw Murphy Crowe go in again, breaking tackles to finish off a tidy first phase move before completing her hat-trick soon after and securing Ireland's place in Cape Town in September.
☘️ | Congratulations to @IrishRugby who are the final women's side to make their way to South Africa after defeating Portugal! 👏 #RWC7s | @WorldRugby7s pic.twitter.com/ZKhJL4hs2c
— Rugby Europe (@rugby_europe) July 17, 2022
Irish Rugby Success
The mens team also secured their place in Cape Town by taking down Georgia 17-12 in their own quarter-final showdown.
After going behind 7-0 early on, tries from Ed Kelly and talisman Terry Kennedy gave them a 12-7 lead at the break.
Ireland's Mark Roche was then shown a yellow card for a cynical penalty, and it took some excellent last gasp defence in their own 22 to keep the Georgians out.
Bryan Mollen then made sure of the win after a Terry Kennedy assist, with Georgia scoring a consolation try in the last play.
This victory followed big group wins over Poland (73-0), Portugal (29-0), and Italy (21-5)
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