THE FINAL LEG of the men’s Sevens World Series in Paris will give Ireland men another close-up view of the teams they will be facing on a regular basis in next year’s tournament.
Both Anthony Eddy’s men and Stan McDowell’s women will be more acutely focused on the need to build form ahead of Olympic qualifiers in July.
Ireland’s men are at the French leg of the World Series as an invitational side again after last week’s strong showing in London.
The squad sees a host of changes with Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy, Adam Leavy and Mark Roche all rested while the uncapped Peter Maher of Old Belvedere and former Roscrea College star Cormac Izuchukwu are drafted in.
The in-form men’s side will travel to Colomiers for Olympic qualifying on 13-14 July where they will face stiff competition from England, who cannot finish in the top four automatic qualifying places in the World Series. Only winner of the July tournament winner will earn qualification, with other hopefuls pitted into a repechage for the final places.
Ireland’s women will also take aim at a place in Tokyo 2020 on 13-14 July in Kazan, but their trip to Paris this weekend will see them take on the hosts in two exhibition matches while the men’s tournament breaks on Saturday.
France are the best-ranked European side in the women’s game (fifth) and McDowell’s charges will hope the fixtures prove a valuable build-up to the final leg of their World Series campaign in Biarritz, 15-16 June, where they will aim to improve on their current eighth place.
Ireland Men (Paris 7s 2019)
Jack Daly (Garryowen/Munster)
Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Billy Dardis (UCD) Captain
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne)
Cormac (Izzy) Izuchukwu (Old Wesley)*
Jack Kelly (Dublin University/Leinster)
Hugo Lennox (Clontarf)
Harry McNulty (UCD)
Peter Maher (Old Belvedere)*
Mick McGrath (Clontarf)
Bryan Mollen (Blackrock College)
Greg O’Shea (Shannon)
Peter Sullivan (Lansdowne)
Saturday pool fixtures (to be broadcast on Sky Sports Arena)
Ireland v Argentina, 11.28am (Irish time)
Ireland v England, 2.54pm (Irish time)
Ireland v Fiji, 6.42pm (Irish time)
Ireland Women 7s (v France)
Kathy Baker (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Claire Boles (Railway Union/Ulster)
Megan Burns (Tullamore/Leinster)
Louise Galvin (UL Bohemian/Munster)
Katie Heffernan (Mullingar/Railway Union/Leinster)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster)
Brittany Hogan (Railway Union/Ulster)
Emily Lane (Mallow/Munster)
Anna McGann (UCD/Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe (Railway Union/Munster) Captain
Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird (Old Belvedere/Munster)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Gavan Casey is joined by Murray Kinsella and Sean Farrell for a review of the 2018/19 season, and cast an eye forward to next year and the Rugby World Cup in Japan.:
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You liat the KO at 14:30…. isn’t it 15:00? I’m booked in for a full head of highlights at 1 and won’t make a half 2 kick off……
@Bungee Aky: no it’s been changed to 2:30! You’d wanna tell the hairdresser to get a move on
@Boo Radley: you can’t rush perfection
Anybody got an update on the Bill Johnston move to Ulster? Asking for a friend.
@Jim Demps: is your friend Rochelle?
@Bungee Aky: don’t be silly Rochelle has no friends
@Jim Demps: is it a case of use it or lose it.
@Chris Mc: I’m all for it, hope it’s happening. It’d be a great move for him, Ulster and for munster.
@Jim Demps: I’m not sure how it’s good for munster but he does need rugby at this stage.
@Chris Mc: no point in having a 28, 26, 23 and 22 year old all vying for the same position. If Johnston moves on we’ve got a good balance there. At the moment with carbery the same age as him Johnston isn’t going to be given a fair chance so a move will suit him. For munster they can break in Ben Healy and give him the exposure as a young talent. It’s too easy for people to look at Johnston and say he was never given a chance but you can’t ignore his injuries. Two dislocated shoulders and a broken leg for a 22 year old is an awful lot of injuries and it’s bound to slow down his progression. Van Graan has shown that he will give young talent the chance it needs and I’d expect that to continue.
@Jim Demps: fair enough.
@Jim Demps: ‘exposure as a young talent’
When are you going to see what happens at Munster??
@Andrew H: I see it every game I go to Andrew. I’ve seen wycherley, loughman, Shane Daly, Gavin Coombes, o Connor and more all excel. You’re just using Bill Johnston as a tired old excuse to beat munster with. Too easy to compare young lads to Ryan and larmour, once in a generation talents who have as much international as club games under their belt. Try comparing them to their peers, Conor o brien to goggin, josh Murphy to wycherley, abdaladze to loughman and the picture might be a bit clearer for you.
2:30pm? My ticket says 3pm
@Thomyk: game will be over by then and Munsters season finished.
@Bungee Aky: could be right there lad , win r lose it’s supporting them that matters
@Thomyk: naw, nothing beats winning, you just forgot that it’s been so long
@Bungee Aky: won last Saturday pal , and I’m fairly sure we won a few games this season to, so maybe your talking through your anus now ?
Are you two done? Now up to your rooms and do your homework and leave your phones down.
@Thomyk: winning wars not battles
@Bungee Aky: grow a brain
Should be a belter and intimacy of the RDS for such a big game is again great as opposed to 3/4 full Aviva. Re KO info came out earlier for 2.30 KO on PRO14 Twitter
“Semi-Final KO Update: @leinsterrugby v @Munsterrugby to kick off at 14:30 on Saturday May 18 – live on @eirSport & @PremierSportsTV
#GuinnessPRO14”
@mrbryanrussell: if lowe plays it could be a rout
@Eoin Murphy: don’t think so, one thing is for certain let’s hope they don’t get sucked in like last time and focus on getting the job done. Should be a great match hopefully JVdF is back in the squad too as well as Joey
Will be tough for Leinster. Either they’ll all be hungover after winning the European cup, or in a sad shitty mood with no desire to play.
@sup: They’re highly motivated to do the double and if they lose to Saracens their determination will be even greater to win a trophy this season.