WHILE IRELAND WOMEN will raise the curtain on the female side of the equation against Great Britain on Sunday afternoon, Ireland’s men’s team have just one day left to play in their Paris 2024 Olympic campaign.
Thanks to TritonLake – the proud title sponsor of the Ireland Sevens teams – The 42 will be keeping you up to speed on both Olympic tournaments.
Ahead of Saturday’s semi-finals, gold-medal match and placing deciders, here’s the story so far from the Olympic men’s Sevens competition.
How have Ireland been doing?
IRELAND PERFORMED WELL in each of their four games and will be devastated that they will depart Paris without a medal after suffering a pair of one-score defeats to the two pre-tournament favourites.
James Topping’s side were beaten 19-15 in their quarter-final by back-to-back Olympic champions Fiji on Thursday night, missing out on a place in the last four and, by extension, the opportunity to bring some precious metal back through Dublin Airport.
Ultimately, a couple of key goal-line errors against New Zealand in the pool altered the trajectory of Ireland’s tournament and an undetected Fijian knock-on effectively ended it. It is on such margins that dreams of an Olympic medal either come to fruition or perish, and Ireland will be sickened that they were unable to consolidate their excellent form on this year’s men’s Sevens circuit by sealing a place on the podium.
Ireland’s campaign began with promise on Wednesday as they took a deserved win over South Africa, 14-7, in Pool A, before crushing Japan 40-5.
The latter victory sealed Ireland’s place in the last eight, and their final pool game against top-ranked New Zealand on Thursday afternoon became, for both sides, a matter of sealing a summit spot in the pool and avoiding the flying Fijians — who had won their last 15 Olympic fixtures — in the quarters.
Ireland were arguably the marginally better side against the Kiwis but left a couple of tries behind them in what transpired to be an agonising 14-12 defeat.
The men in green took the lead when Zac Ward, Ireland’s standout player in Paris so far, rinsed Fehi Fineanganofo down the right wing and they gained an even more commanding position when Jordan Conroy finished a controlled team attack near the posts. Mark Roche’s conversion of the latter try meant Ireland led 12-0 at the break, but the Kiwis hit back almost immediately after the restart as Leroy Carter scorched through the middle for a try that was converted by Akuila Rokolisoa.
In the final 90 seconds, Ireland’s subsequent resistance was broken by Ngarohi McGarvey-Black who scored to level proceedings at 12 apiece. A draw was enough for New Zealand to top the pool but Andrew Knewstubb applied a sumptuous conversion for good measure and the Kiwis held out for the win.
For Ireland, it was onto a quarter-final with Fiji later on Thursday, a side unbeaten since Sevens was first introduced to the Olympics at Rio 2016.
They again held a two-score lead — 15-7 — early in the second half but the double champions showed both brilliance and opportunism to prolong their defence of the title and end Ireland’s own medal chances.
Iosefo Masi Baleiwairiki fired out of the blocks for Fiji with an early score, converted under the posts by Iowane Teba.
The game then temporarily became The Chay Mullins Show as the Irishman muscled over for two unconverted scores which flipped the game on its head before the break.
Upon its resumption, Zac Ward forced his way over on the left, again unconverted, to extend Ireland’s lead to 15-7, meaning Fiji would need to score twice in the remaining minutes to claw their way into the final four.
They did exactly that, firstly crossing with a 95-yarder by Joji Nasova and then taking the lead through a controversial score by Waisea Nacuqu, who regathered a restart, which was misjudged by receivers Ireland, to score under the posts even though the ball was clearly knocked on by a Fijian hand when it was batted towards him.
Fiji, with a slice of fortune, march on to face Australia in Saturday’s semi-final. Ireland will play fellow beaten quarter-finalists USA in a 5th-to-8th placing match the same day, with the winners progressing to the 5th/6th-place play-off.
Quarter-final Results
New Zealand 7-14 South Africa
France 26-14 Argentina
Fiji 19-15 Ireland
Australia 18-0 USA
The Big Stories
Hier kom die Blitsbokke: South Africa, twice beaten in their pool — by both New Zealand and Ireland — dumped out gold-medal favourites New Zealand when it truly counted, at the quarter-final stage.
This was a remarkable victory for South Africa, who reached the last eight only by the skin of their teeth: they were the final qualifiers from the repechage and once they were paired with New Zealand (who had beaten them 17-5 in Pool A a day earlier) in the quarters, it seemed likely that their Paris campaign was nearing its end.
However, Philip Snyman’s Blitzboks produced a stirring defensive effort to claim a 14-7 victory over their Kiwi equivalents, who had emerged unbeaten from their pool.
Selvyn Davids and Tristan Leyds scored the South Africans’ tries in the third and fourth minutes of the first half, with Leyds converting both. Leyds’ try was particularly special, beginning on South Africa’s own try-line after a huge defensive set by his side.
That remained the theme. While New Zealand hit back through Moses Leo, his try converted by Andrew Knewstubb to make it 14-7 at the break, South Africa produced a defensive masterclass to ensure the second half went scoreless.
With the most stunning result of the men’s Sevens competition so far, the Blitzboks booked their place in the last four and edged closer to bagging an unlikely medal this Saturday.
South Africa will face hosts France in their semi-final after Antoine Dupont put the cherry on top of a well-earned 26-14 victory for Les Bleus over World Series season leaders Argentina at the quarter-final stage.
Dupont, perhaps the greatest player ever to compete in the XVs code, was used as an impact player in this last-eight clash but after spluttering in their pool, Jermome Daret’s side finally clicked into gear even before they sprang their not-so-secret weapon from the bench.
The French will now be heavily fancied to book a home final when they meet the Blitzboks on Saturday.
The losing semi-finalists from South Africa-France and Fiji-Australia will face off for the bronze medal at 6pm before gold and silver are determined in the showpiece at 6:45.
Ireland’s Best Try
Terry Kennedy sealed Ireland's 10-5 victory over South Africa with this well-taken try.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 24, 2024
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Terry Kennedy both started and finished brilliantly this effort down the blindside as Ireland doubled their lead against South Africa in their pool opener, all but sealing their second ever Olympic victory.
Standout Individual Performance
In Pool C on Thursday, USA Sevens legend Perry Baker became the first male player to score four tries in an Olympic match as the Americans beat Uruguay 33-17 to book their place in the knockouts.
Only Fijian women’s player, Reapi Ulunisau, had previously scored four tries in a single Olympic fixture.
Baker, who is 38 years of age, is now level with former team-mate Carlin Isles as the most prolific Olympic men’s player, with nine tries to his name.
Baker was a college football player with West Virginia’s Fairmont State University in NCAA Division II and was signed as an undrafted free agent by NFL side Philadelphia Eagles in the summer of 2011.
A knee injury cut short his career at the highest level of American football and after a stint in the Arena Football League, Baker transitioned to rugby Sevens — a sport in which he has become a two-time World Player of the Year.
Remaining Men’s Fixtures
All to be played on Saturday, 27 July:
Placing 5-8: New Zealand v Argentina, 1:30pm
Placing 5-8: Ireland v USA, 2pm
Semi-final: South Africa v France, 2:30pm
Semi-final: Fiji v Australia, 3pm
11th/12th-place play-off: Japan v Uruguay, 3:30pm
9th/10th-place play-off: Samoa v Kenya, 4pm
7th/8th-place play-off: TBC, 5pm
5th/6th-place play-off: TBC, 5:30pm
Bronze-medal match: TBC, 6pm
Gold-medal match: TBC, 6:45pm
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