The Irish Men’s sevens squad may have failed to progress through to the quarter finals in Tokyo, however showed grit and determination to see off Korea 31-0 to secure a ninth/tenth place play off against Kenya tomorrow.
Kenya saw off the efforts of Japan to book the clash with Ireland by winning 21-7. Mark Roche got on the scoreboard for the Irish team alongside a double from both Jordan Conroy and Gavin Mullin to see out the convincing victory.
Having narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter finals in agonising fashion through points difference, Anthony Eddy’s side showed a lot of heart to run riot over Korea.
The rematch with Kenya will most likely be like the reverse fixture, a tight affair between the two. The impressive response from Eddy’s men will offer positivity and belief that they can go and defeat Kenya once more.
The heartbreak endured in the Kenya game due to a late try did not disrupt the spirit of the squad who battled hard and did themselves proud in their first Olympics appearance.
Following two losses against the USA and South Africa Ireland needed to win by eight to have any chance of progressing into the knockout stages of the tournament. However, after failing to do so, the team put on a display worthy of praise and will now meet Kenya on July 28th.
The gut wrenching last minute score from Kenya will mean Ireland can only at best finish 9th.
Watch Harry McNulty’s reaction after the game here:
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