THE IRFU HAVE announced both the Ireland men’s and women’s squads for this weekend’s International Sevens tournament at St George’s Park.

The Ireland men’s Sevens squad have also learned their opponents for June’s World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco. Anthony Eddy’s side will look to book their place at the Tokyo Olympics at the tournament, and have been paired alongside Samoa, Tonga, Zimbabwe and Mexico in Pool A.

This weekend, both the men’s and women’s Sevens squads will travel to the FA’s national training centre at St George’s Park for a three-day-tournament, hosted by GB Sevens, as they resume competitive action.

Eddy has named a 16-strong men’s squad, which will be captained by Billy Dardis. 

Munster Academy players Alex Kendellen, Conor Phillips and Jack Crowley have also been included for the first time, having spent time with the squad at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre in recent months.

Ireland will play Great Britain and the USA, which each team playing two fixtures per day. 

The Ireland women will be captained by Lucy Mulhall, and will travel with a number of players who were involved with Adam Griggs’ Six Nations squad.

Stacey Flood, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Eve Higgins, Grace Moore, Brittany Hogan and Emily Lane are all included as they make the transition back from 15s to Sevens rugby. The Ireland women will play Great Britain and France.

Full fixture details for both squads can be found here.

“We are really looking forward to getting back to international competition and actually play some matches,” Eddy said.

“This tournament provides a great opportunity to build towards the summer ahead and it is great preparation for the Men’s team leading into Monaco and the Olympic Repechage Tournament in June.

“Both our Men’s and Women’s teams will be exposed to some quality opposition throughout the tournament and the competition should be intense.”

The Monaco repechage will represent the final qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics, and will take place at the Stade Louis II across 19 and 20 June.

Ireland will need to place in the top two in their pool to progress through to the knock-out stages, with the winner of the final securing their place at the Games.

Pool B sees hosts France placed alongside Hong Kong, Chile, Uganda and Jamaica.

Ireland Men’s Sevens Squad for International Rugby Sevens:

Alex Kendellen (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Aaron O’Sullivan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Gavin Mullin (UCD)
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne)
Jude Postlethwaite (Banbridge/Ulster)
Conor Phillips (Young Munster/Munster)
Billy Dardis (Terenure College)(Captain)
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians)
Hugo Lennox (Skerries)
Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Ben Moxham (Ballymena/Ulster)
Terry Kennedy (St Mary’s College)
Rory Scholes (Irish Sevens)
Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers)
Duran Krummeck (Irish Sevens)
Aaron Sexton (Malone/Ulster).

Ireland Women’s Sevens Squad For International Rugby 7s:

Claire Boles (Railway Union/Ulster)
Megan Burns (Tullamore/Leinster)
Amee Leigh Murphy-Crowe (Railway Union/Munster)
Méabh Deely (Blackrock/Connacht)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Katie Heffernan (Mullingar/Railway Union/Leinster)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster)
Brittany Hogan (DCU/Ulster)
Emily Lane (Blackrock/Munster)
Maeve Liston (Blackrock/Ulster)
Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians/Leinster)
Grace Moore (Railway Union/IQ Rugby)
Lucy Mulhall (Rathdrum/Leinster)(Captain)
Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird (Old Belvedere/Munster)
Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock/Connacht) 

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