Greg O’Shea named in Ireland Rugby Sevens Squad for Tokyo 2020

Greg O’Shea will join the Ireland squad for this summer’s games in Tokyo, the Shannon RFC man had recently been called into the squad for qualifiers and has since impressed in games recently.

The Twenty-six-year-old who previously was part of the Munster academy and also took part in reality TV show Love Island, which he won. However, O’Shea turned the celebrity lifestyle away to return to his passion of playing rugby and has been rewarded with a place in Irelands squad.

This is the first time that Ireland will field a rugby team in the Games, with the Rugby Sevens event making its debut in 2016 at Rio. The events will take place in the Tokyo Stadium, and will run from Monday 26 July until Wednesday 28 July 2021.

The Irish team dominated the final Olympic repechage on the 19-20 June in Paris, when they overcame all teams en route to a sensational clash with pre-competition favourites France. With one Olympic spot up for grabs at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage, the Irish team left no stone unturned, emerging as the winners

The team will now compete in Pool C, facing South Africa, USA and Kenya in matches which are fast moving and seven minutes per half and a two minute break between the halves. There are seven players on the field of play at all times, and throughout the game only five substitutions can be made. The top two teams from the pool rounds move into the quarter final rounds, as well as the two best third placed teams. These are followed by semi-finals and finals.

Greg O’Shea is no stranger to the Olympic movement, and previously competed in the Youth Olympics as a sprinter, “The Olympics is the pinnacle of sport, so to represent Ireland at the Games is a huge honour and it means even more to be there playing alongside my mates. All the hard work and sacrifice has been worth it and now I just cannot wait to get out there and play.”

Team Ireland Sevens :

Jordan Conroy
Billy Dardis
Ian Fitzpatrick
Foster Horan
Jack Kelly
Terry Kennedy
Adam Leavy
Hugo Lennox
Harry McNulty
Gavin Mullin
Greg O’Shea
Mark Roche
Bryan Mollen

Team Ireland now consists of 79 officially selected athletes, with over 110 athlete spots confirmed across nineteen sports.

There are five final team announcements to come over the coming week, the official closing date for registering athletes was 4pm on Monday 5 July 2021.

The Olympic Games in Tokyo will run from the 23rd July to 8th August 2021.