Ireland Sevens coach Anthony Eddy has made two changes to the squad for the final leg of the Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series at Sandy Park, Exeter this weekend. The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
The Irish squad has won two of the three legs to date in Moscow and Clermont, while reaching the semi-finals in Lodz, eventually finishing third. UCD's Jimmy O'Brien returns while Connacht academy wing Adam Leavy, younger brother of Leinster's Dan, will win his first cap.
By virtue of their performances to date they have secured a place at the HSBC World Sevens Series Repechage in Hong Kong next season, where the winner will go on to be a core team on the 2018-19 World Series circuit.
This weekend, the side will look to secure a place at next summer’s World RugbySevens Rugby World Cup in San Francisco. With two spots available, Ireland sit top of the standings on 56 points after winning their second title of the series, leaving them two points clear of Lodz winners Russia with Spain a further two points back going into the final round.
Ireland Sevens squad: F Carr (Naas), J Conroy (Buccaneers), B Dardis (UCD, capt), I Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne), H Keenan (UCD), A Leavy (Galwegians/Connacht), H McNulty (Naas), J O'Brien (UCD/Leinster), J O'Donnell (Lansdowne), G O'Shea (Shannon), M Roche (Lansdowne), N Timoney (QUB/Ulster).
Fixtures:
Saturday
Pool A: Ireland v Portugal, 11.30am; Ireland v Belgium, 2.15; Ireland v France, 5.0.
Sunday
Playoffs.
