MOSCOW IS THIS week’s destination for the Ireland Men’s Sevens squad, with implications for next month’s Olympic qualifier in France.
Coach Anthony Eddy has included his primary weapons in his squad for the first leg of the Rugby Europe Grand Prix series, a tournament which will sort out the seeding for the European Olympic qualification tournament in Colomiers on the weekend of 13 July.
Billy Dardis captains the 13-man group which will travel without an uncapped player.
“This weekend marks the first real step to the weekend in Colomiers,” says head coach Eddy as he noted the target of building from the experience of competing at recent World Series events.
“The squad got valuable experience in London and Paris earlier this month, with several of them experiencing the World Series for the first time.
“The players are all aware of what is ahead of them over the next couple of tournaments, and with Moscow determining the seeding for Colomiers, it is a very important tournament for us.”
Ireland will begin the tournament against Romania (10am Irish time Saturday, streamed here) before clashes with Italy (12.45) and France (3.30pm) to complete Pool A before the knockout stages come down for decision on Sunday.
England have been drawn against hosts Russia in Pool C, with Germany and Wales in Pool B.
The second leg of the Rugby Europe Grand Prix will come in Lodz, the weekend after the Olympic qualifier.
Ireland Men’s Sevens squad for Rugby Europe Grand Prix 1st round
Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers)
Jack Daly (Garryowen)
Shane Daly (Cork Constitution)
Billy Dardis (Terenure College) Captain
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne)
Jack Kelly (Dublin University)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College)
Adam Leavy (Lansdowne)
Hugo Lennox (Clontarf)
Harry McNulty (UCD)
Bryan Mollen (Blackrock College)
Greg O’Shea (Shannon)
Mark Roche (Blackrock College)
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2 La Ligas in a decade that sound like the best team of the decade?
To be fair 4 champions leagues in the last 5 years. As horrible a club like Real Madrid are in how their fans repeatedly boo their own players, treat their managers and truly believe they are above normal footballing rules as is standard across the board just because they are Real Madrid they are the best team of the last decade but Pepe is entitled to his opinion…maybe his view is biased with his Barca links as Mick McCarthy maybe be biased in how he views Gary Breen as one of the best Irish players that has ever walked the planet :-)
@Patrick McHugh: we all dream of a team of Gary breens a team of Gary Breens a team of Gary Breens
@Patrick McHugh: Guardiola is trolling of course. Barca have a superior league record recently but Real is also the first team to reach 4500 points in La Liga … the fans do boo players and it’s a shock for some to witness it but it only happens when they reckon the player isn’t giving a 100% effort , or is putting himself above the club . There are no sacred cows . And the results speak for themselves as does the fact that most players dream of playing for them … don’t write them off just yet in CL either . Ajax is the next rival up , a lot of injuries are clearing up and the fitness levels are back to where they should be after Lopeteguis departure .. it’s unlikely they’ll do a comeback in La Liga but the CL is still a strong option and let’s see what happens in Copa del Rey tonight
@Limón Madrugada: Visca Girona!!
@Karlos McGrath: let’s see what happens , won’t be an easy game but Real seem to have found their scoring boots at last . Hala Madrid !
@Limón Madrugada: To be fair to pep, he clearly thinks that winning the league consistently over the last ten years is a bigger feat than the CL.
And in that regard, Barca have dominated.
@Margarita Huanca: he clearly doesn’t because he signed for Bayern to win the CL for them , ultimately they didn’t need him to win their domestic league … similarly he signed for Man City who won leagues without him but are still way off a CL ..
@Limón Madrugada: True lad, but he did specify the domestic league when making this statement.
And to be honest, I think he has a point.
@Limón Madrugada: found this, didn’t think the all time record was that even https://www.goal.com/en/news/real-madrid-barcelona-clasico-record-head-to-head/hxdm74dgfby81w9bsiejduy05
@Dave O Keeffe: who did you expect to be further ahead ??
@Margarita Huanca: no he did not , he said ‘every year they win , the leagues , the cups’ so why do 4 of the last 5 CL not count ?
It’s a league ( of sorts) and a CUP … not to mention Real did the treble two years ago … and have been World club champions meanwhile too .. Guardiola is deliberately omitting Real Madrid , which in the end is a backhanded compliment … he’s a bitter and resentful man sometimes beneath his superficial saintly image
@Limón Madrugada: thought Real would be ahead by a good bit