THE RUGBY SEVENS came to a thrilling conclusion at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, with the final day of action playing out in front of 69,000 supporters at the Stade de France.
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Tuesday’s final day of action in the women’s competition featured the gold medal match as well as Ireland’s final efforts towards a fifth-placed finish. Here’s how it all played out.
How have Ireland been doing?
Ireland had a mixed opening day on Sunday, losing to Great Britain before thrashing South Africa 38-0. On Monday, Ireland lost 19-14 to Australia and were then beaten by the same opposition in their quarter-final later that evening.
Those results set Allan Temple-Jones’ team up for a clash with host nation France as the placing and medal games took place today.
Ireland started bright against the French but saw their challenge fade as they fell to a 19-7 defeat in the Paris sunshine.
Séraphine Okemba starred for France with a brace of tries after Eve Higgins had sprinted home from 60 metres out to put Ireland ahead. France trailed 7-0 going into the second half but the momentum began to swing as Okemba scored out wide, despite the best efforts of Higgins, who had an excellent Olympics.
A loose Ireland breakdown then saw France counter and strike through captain Carla Neisen, and with the last attack of the game, Okemba put the result beyond doubt with her second try of the game.
Ireland were back out on the pitch later on Tuesday in the 7th-8th place play-off, where Temple-Jones’ team lost 28-12 to Great Britain.
It was a frustrating end to Ireland’s Olympics, with Stacey Flood and Erin King both yellow-carded as Great Britain outscored Ireland four tries to two.
Meg Jones opened the scoring for Great Britain shortly after Flood saw yellow for a high tackle, and while Ireland hit back through Megan Burns, a missed conversion left Ireland chasing a two-point lead.
By half-time Great Britain were pulling clear, with Jade Shekells and Jones scoring to build a 21-5 lead at the break. It was 28-5 shortly after the restart, with Heather Cowell racing home from distance.
To their credit, Ireland kept battling and went close on a couple of occasions before Claire Boles finally got over the tryline, but it was too little, too late, as Ireland had to settle for an eighth-place finish.
Results
Women’s placing 5-8:
China 19-15 Great Britain
France 19-7 Ireland
Women’s semi-finals:
New Zealand 24-12 United States
Canada 21-12 Australia
Women’s placing 11-12:
South Africa 21-15 Fiji
Women’s placing 9-10:
Japan 38-7 Brazil
Women’s placing 7-8:
Great Britain 28-12 Ireland
Women’s placing 5-6:
China 7-21 France
Bronze medal match:
United States 14-12 Australia
Gold medal match:
New Zealand 19-12 Canada
The Big Stories
Still riding a wave of momentum from their shock defeat of France on Monday, Canada did it again by overcoming Australia in their semi-final meeting today. After falling 12-0 behind to the heavily-fancied Australia, Canada rallied back to win 21-12, a result which represents one of the greatest upsets in Sevens Olympic history.
There’s Irish interest in the story too, with Canada coached by Skerries native Jack Hanratty. Hanratty is a former Leinster Rugby development officer who has been working in Canadian rugby since 2013.
With New Zealand 12-0 up and looking comfortable, Canada hit back in impressive fashion through tries from Charity Williams, Piper Logan and Asia Hogan-Rochester.
Williams got Canada back in the game with a fine solo score before half-time, before Hogan-Rochester finished a lineout move. With Australia rocked, Logan then sealed a famous victory with a well-taken try that reduced some of the Australia bench to tears before the siren sparked wonderful scenes among the Canadian team on the pitch.
It set up a fascinating final, but Canada couldn’t live with the power and skill of a superb New Zealand team, who outscored Hanratty’s side by three tries to two as 69,000 watched on at the Stade de France.
It wasn’t the fairytale ending for Canada, but a silver medal represents a massive achievement for a country that won bronze at Rio 2016, but could only manage an underwhelming ninth-place finish at the Tokyo Games.
Ireland’s Best Try
On a challenging day for Ireland, Eve Higgins never stopped fighting and her try against France was typical of her efforts across this Olympics.
Eve Higgins scored an early try for Ireland in their 19-7 defeat to France in their 5th-8th place playoff game
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 30, 2024
The defeat means Ireland face Great Britain in the 7th place playoff at 5pm#RTESport #Paris2024
📱Updates https://t.co/01ShZjM17C
📺Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7 pic.twitter.com/CGrAOok91M
With France looking to gobble up a loose Ireland pass, Higgins showed sharp reactions to sweep up the ball and race home from distance, using her pace to beat the chasing French defenders to the tryline.
Standout Individual Performance
It’s been quite the week for New Zealand’s Michaela Blyde. A few days ago, the New Zealand star met her sporting idol, Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, with the moment captured on camera by Blyde’s Kiwis teammates.
Aye Shelly have Michaela in shambles. 🤭
— Kads (@kadeen__) July 26, 2024
This is so cute btw, and her teammates coming together to reply to the message is even cuter.
I knew when I saw her barefoot that she ran from somewhere.
Queen of Hearts 💚 pic.twitter.com/HvcTZi2n1w
Fraser-Pryce has since made it out to the Stade de France to watch Blyde in action, and the 28-year-old capped a memorable week off the pitch with a big performance on it, playing a central role as New Zealand stormed to back-to-back Sevens gold.
With the Kiwis up against a Canada team that had developed a taste for taking big scalps in Paris, New Zealand produced an impressive second-half performance as they powered to a 19-12 win in today’s final.
Blyde was excellent in the gold medal match and scored the try that moved New Zealand back into the lead after half-time, producing a sharp sidestep to work some space and break for the tryline. From there, New Zealand never looked back.
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