O’Shea Helps Secure Second Sevens Title

Shannon’s Greg O’Shea was among the tries as the Ireland Sevens squad blew aside the competition, maintaining an 100% record, including avenging a semi-final defeat to Russia three weeks ago with a 17-14 win in a highly entertaining final to capture the Clermont 7s last weekend.

The win means that Ireland go back top of the Rugby Europe Men’s Sevens rankings, and 56 points is enough to crucially secure them a spot on next year’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Anthony Eddy’s side progressed comfortably through their pool, with wins over Belgium, Wales, and the middle game Italy, in which Shannon and Munsterman O’Shea dotted down in only his second series as a sevens member.

Day two saw some much tighter action for the Irish, as they faced hosts France in the quarter-final who got off to a perfect start when Gabin Villiere crashed over for the opening try after two minutes.

From that start one might have expected a high-scoring game, and Nick Tomoney was sent to the bin for a high-tackle in the first score, only Ian Fitzpatrick’s try-saving tackle prevented the score from being extended.

The Irish hung on though, and were rewarded just after half-time, as Timoney snapped up a loose ball and Keenan then grasped possession from a hotly-contested ruck. He fed McNulty who evaded a tackler to run in from the 10-metre line. Captain Billy Dardis kept his cool landed the right-sided conversion for a 7-5 lead.

Ireland’s game management was second-to-none, and they managed to keep the ball well away from their try line before the hosts knocked on in midfield, Ireland progressing to the semi-final stage.

There lay a more comfortable challenge in Spain, as tries from Jordan Conroy, Fionn Carr and Mark Roche secured passage to the final with a 17-5 victory.

The final saw Ireland come up against Russia, where they had won their opening Grand Prix Series in Moscow. Conroy again put the Irish on the front-foot with a scintillating run to dot down just 40 seconds into the contest, before Timoney crossed to double the advantage, making it 10-0.

The Russians got a converted try back just before half-time, and despite Irish dominance, the Irish thorn took the lead nine minutes into the second period as Denis Simplikevich handed off Conroy to gallop in under the posts. Roshchin’s conversion giving the Lodz champions a four-point lead.

With bench players like Josh Rowland and Roche making an impact, Ireland showed impressive composure as they worked themselves some space on the left and Conroy returned the favour on Simplikevich as he skinned him on the outside and rounded a second defender to score behind the posts, midway through the half.

Ireland’s defence, which had been so good throughout the tournament, didn’t let them down, as they held out the remaining time to secure a second win in three tournaments.

The side are now extremely close to booking a place in the Sevens World Cup in San Francisco, needing to finish in the top two, and currently four points ahead of third-placed Spain.

Ireland Men’s Sevens Squad, 2017 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series – Round 3, Stade Gabriel Montpied, Clermont-Ferrand, France:

Fionn Carr (Naas)
Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Billy Dardis (UCD) (capt)
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)
Mick McGrath (Clontarf)
Harry McNulty (UCD)
John O’Donnell (Lansdowne)
Greg O’Shea (Shannon/Munster)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne)
Josh Rowland (Buccaneers)
Nick Timoney (Queen’s University/Ulster)

Results:

Pool C: Ireland 28 Belgium 5, Ireland 35 Italy 0, Ireland 21 Wales 5
Quarter-Final: France 5 Ireland 7
Semi-Final: Spain 5 Ireland 17
Cup Final: Russia 14 Ireland 17.