Niall Comerford
Age: 24
Club: UCD
Previous Olympics: None
The Shankill (Dublin) born player’s first loves was hurling and Gaelic football, sports at which he excelled and would play for Kilmacud Crokes, while enjoying soccer too. It wasn’t until he went into Blackrock that he took up rugby, starting as a flanker and ending up as a wing on the senior team. A UCD scholarship student he made the Leinster Academy and played for Ireland under-20s before switching to Sevens in 2020. At one point in a Leinster A match the back three consisted of Comerford, Andrew Smith and Hugo Keenan, all three of whom will represent Ireland at the Paris Olympics.
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Jordan Conroy
Age: 30
Club: Buccaneers
Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
Ireland’s first Sevens superstar, the Munich-born flyer returned to live with his mother in Tullamore aged 10, a decision he spoke about recently, courageously talking about being a child of domestic abuse at the hands of a stepfather. His searing pace and prodigious try-scoring earned him a brilliant reputation on the Sevens circuit, notably his duels with American speedsters Carlin Isles and Perry Baker amongst others. Although he is no longer quite the same focal point he once was, he possesses a remarkable knack of scoring important tries for his team and if they are to thrive in Paris then he will be an important figure.
Hugo Keenan
Age: 28
Club: UCD, Leinster
Previous Olympics: None
Probably the best known of the Sevens squad due to his other job as fullback for the XV’s and appearance in last year’s World Cup. Keenan, along with other high-profile players such as Antoine Dupont of France, will give the competition a higher profile but unlike Dupont Keenan came from Sevens initially. He was called into the Ireland team camp in early 2017 and was part of the team during the 2017 Sevens Grand Prix Series. Leinster and Ireland in the longer form of the game was his bread and butter until this year when he opted for the Olympics and played in the Sevens Grand Final in Madrid at the end of May.
Jack Kelly
Age: 26
Club: Dublin University
Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
The teenage Kelly trained with Joe Schmidt’s Ireland senior team ahead of the 2016 November Test series. A St Michael’s College graduate and Irish under-20s player, injury (shoulder and ankle) took its toll early although the Trinity student was offered a place in the Leinster Academy, making his senior appearance in 2018. It was Anthony Eddy who noticed a skill set that would suit Sevens rugby and he made the change. A veteran of the disappointing Tokyo Olympics and a pacy fullback in XVs, he is one of Ireland’s physical forwards in a field where everyone is fast. He has had to put a career in law on hold to play in Paris.
Terry Kennedy
Age: 27
Club: St Mary’s College
Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
Another one of the Tokyo Olympic graduates, Kennedy has been around Sevens rugby since 2016. His father Terry was also an international player in the 1970s and 1980s. Kennedy also played XVs with the Irish under-20s and St Mary’s College before changing to Sevens, where he has excelled. A winner of the 2022 World Sevens Player of the Year, his try-scoring for Ireland has elevated him into one of the best players in the world game. He was also crowned the Top Try Scorer for the 2021–22 World Rugby Sevens Series and after extended time out in Australia will be one of the players Ireland will look to for edge and impact in Stade de France.
Hugo Lennox
Age: 25
Club: Skerries
Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
The Skerries RFC player made his debut in Sevens back in 2018. A graduate from Maynooth University, he also works in the Real Estate business. But Paris has been a focus after Tokyo’s underpowered performance where Ireland finished 10th. Comparatively small and light compared to the other players at 63kg, Lennox could almost qualify for Kellie Harrington’s light weight division in boxing. The Irish scrumhalf has been a constant figure in the side, and has shown he knows where the line is too, scoring twice for Ireland against Australia on the way to Hong Kong Sevens bronze earlier this year.
Harry McNulty (capt)
Age: 31
Club: UCD
Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
One of seven returning Olympians in this squad having featured in Tokyo. A stalwart of the Sevens outfit since its inception in 2015, McNulty was first named captain for last year’s Dubai leg, replacing Billy Dardis who misses these Olympics through injury. A prominent forward, McNulty is Ireland’s go-to man for recovering possession from kick-offs. Born in Bahrain and schooled in the USA, McNulty is well-known for his work off the pitch as a social media content creator. Prior to Sevens he spent two years in the Munster academy. Flirted with 15s in recent years when featuring for the LA Giltinis before they were axed from Major League Rugby.
Gavin Mullin
Age: 26
Club: UCD
Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
A former Blackrock College pupil, the one time Leinster centre is another regular in the Ireland Sevens side. Son of Brendan Mullin, the 55-cap Ireland 15s centre and British and Irish Lion, Gavin played twice at senior level for his native province, debuting against Zebre in 2018. Released from their academy in 2020, Mullin had contemplated giving up on professional rugby only for the IRFU to invite him to the Sevens programme. He debuted at a competition in the UK in 2020, where Ireland beat Great Britain and the USA, going on to play in Tokyo a year later and keep his spot for Paris.
Chay Mullins
Age: 22
Club: Galway Corinthians, Connacht
Previous Olympics: None
Broke on to the scene when identified through the Irish Qualified programme ahead of the 2022 under-20 Six Nations. Featured prominently on the wing during that Grand Slam-winning campaign before leaving his native Bristol to join the Connacht academy. He made his Sevens debut for Ireland in Singapore shortly after that Six Nations. While the wing has subsequently been a regular on the Sevens circuit, he has yet to play a senior 15s game for the western province. That may well change, though, after Paris given he has progressed from an academy contract to a senior deal ahead of next season.
Mark Roche
Age: 31
Club: Lansdowne
Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
Alongside McNulty, another ‘Sevens original’ having been involved in the programme ever since its birth in 2015. Another Blackrock College alumnus, Roche played for Ireland under-20s in 2013 before moving to Sevens after professional opportunities in Leinster and Connacht were hard to come by. Roche holds an AIL winner’s medal with Lansdowne. Approached while playing tag rugby with his club, Roche attended the first Sevens trials in Santry and Lansdowne back in 2015. After becoming a father last month when his son, Cooper, was born, Roche has spoken of his attempts to get his newborn a passport in time to watch him in Paris.
Andrew Smith
Age: 23
Club: Clontarf, Connacht
Previous Olympics: None
One of the returnees from the 15-a-side game alongside Hugo Keenan. Smith has featured 13 times in Connacht’s back three this season after making the move from his native Leinster. A former Leinster academy member and Ireland under-20 international, Smith won an AIL title with Clontarf in 2022. That same year he toured with Emerging Ireland during their trip to South Africa. Prior to starting his senior 15s career with Connacht, Smith was an important part of the Sevens programme having first featured in 2021. He was a member of the squad which won bronze at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Zac Ward
Age: 25
Club: Ballynahinch
Previous Olympics: None
The only Ulsterman in the squad, Ward is also the son of a former Ireland 15s international. Andy Ward, the former Ulster backrow, earned 28 international caps and was part of the province’s 1999 European Cup-winning outfit. Zac’s younger brother Bryn featured regularly for Ireland under-20s this year. Zac, who first joined the programme in 2021, was named Ireland’s Sevens player of the year at the 2024 Rugby Players Ireland awards. The Ballynahinch native was named on the dream team for this year’s LA leg of the World Series after Ireland’s third place finish earned them back-to-back medals for the first time.
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