Olympic Women’s Sevens Pool B
A first day of Olympic reckoning for the Ireland women’s Rugby Sevens that was effectively eight years in the making ended with some mixed emotions and plenty of hope. And a chance they may yet have some say come the medal matches.
After a disappointing opening defeat to Great Britain, surrendering a half-time lead to lose 21-12, Ireland returned to the Stade de France 3½ hours later to face South Africa in their second Pool B game, where they slowly and then suddenly ripped the opposition apart.
Scoring six unanswered tries, four converted, a resounding 38-0 win keeps alive their chances of making the quarter-finals ahead of their final game against Australia on Monday (1.30pm Irish time). It did come at a cost however as team captain Lucy Mulhall Rock left the field with a knee injury just before half-time, clearly in some distress.
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However, that only seemed to lift the determination of her team-mates. Béibhinn Parsons had given Ireland a 7-0 lead before the break, scoring off a brilliant counterattack move after South Africa spilt the ball, before they ran in five more tries in the second half. They included a second for Parsons with Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Stacey Flood adding one each before Vicki Elmes Kinlan and Eve Higgins completed the rout by scoring from off the bench.
South Africa had earlier lost their opening Pool B game to Australia 34-5 and looked increasingly limited in their scoring ability as the game wore on, and Murphy Crowe might well have had her second try just before half-time, falling into touch just short of the line.
Against Britain, Murphy Crowe helped Ireland build a half-time advantage of 12-7 with her two excellent tries, before Britain hit back with two unanswered scores in the second half, both neatly converted, to boost their chances of the making the quarter-finals as one of the top-ranked teams.
Murphy Crowe scored again as the clock spilt into three minutes of overtime in the first half, and this time Rock converted to give Ireland that 12-7 lead at the break.
Shortly after the restart, Jasmine Joyce scored her 10th Olympic try, having also played in Tokyo and Rio, and from then on Britain began to take control of things with another try from their captain Emma Uren.
Ireland had come the Paris as the only team outside of Australia and New Zealand to win a leg on this year’s World Series, when they took top prize in Perth back in January.
Rock was playing in only her second game after returning from a serious hamstring injury which had sidelined her for five months, and left the field injured in tears but to a thunderous applause.
“I’m extremely proud of the team for the fight we showed throughout,” said Rock, her Olympics now surely over given the nature of her injury. “But we know what we were capable of, and gave ourselves the best chance of a result.”
Indeed Ireland’s hammering of South Africa will likely mean they will also progress to the quarter-finals later on Monday as one of the two best third-placed teams.
“I think in the game of Sevens you should never lose confidence,” said Murphy Crowe, “especially being the fighting Irish that everyone knows we are, and so proud of the girls to fight through that.”
On Saturday, not long before Antoine Dupont inspired France to the men’s gold medals before another capacity crowd of 69,000 at the Stade de France, the Irish men ended their involvement with a 17-7 defeat to New Zealand. It left them in a sixth-place finish overall, the 10-point margin their heaviest defeat here, and a second to New Zealand inside three days.
A late Terry Kennedy try had ensured a 17-14 win over the USA to set up the fifth-sixth place play-off, still an improvement on their 10th-placing in Tokyo.
IRELAND: Stacey Flood, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Béibhinn Parsons, Megan Burns, Lucy Mulhall Rock (capt), Erin King, Emily Lane. Replacements: Ashleigh Orchard, Vicki Elmes Kinlan, Alanna Fitzpatrick, Kathy Baker, Eve Higgins
SOUTH AFRICA: Libbie Janse van Rensburg; Ayanda Malinga; Maria Tshiremba; Sizophila Solontsi; Nadine Roosl Mathrin Simmers (capt), Kemisetso Baloyi. Replacements: Byrhandre Dolf, Zintle Mpupha, Marlize de Bruin, Veroeshka Grain, Liske Lategan
GREAT BRITAIN: Lisa Thomson, Ellie Boatman, Lauren Torley, Emma Uren (capt), Isla Norman-Bell, Meg Jones, Jasmine Joyce. Replacements: Jade Shekells, Grace Crompton, Heather Cowell, Ellie Kildunne.
