Ireland Women’s Team Impress In Amsterdam

New captain Lucy Mulhall led by example as the Ireland Women’s Sevens team topped their pool on the opening day of the Silver Pier tournament at the Amsterdam Sevens.

Ireland did well in both attack and defence as they registered three comprehensive wins over Ushizi Warriors (a Dutch-Swiss selection) (54-0), Finland (45-0) and the Norwegian Vikingettes (52-0).

The girls in green scored 23 tries and managed to concede no points as they topped Pool 1, with skipper Lucy Mulhall touching down four times and kicking 15 conversions for a 50-point personal haul.

Other highlights from day one included the five tries run in by two-time RBS 6 Nations winner Claire Molloy, while two of the Sevens squad’s latest recruits from Gaelic football and camogie, Kerry’s Louise Galvin and Eimear Considine from Clare, both showed off their finishing skills in Ireland’s final pool match.

Galvin and Considine tallied up three tries each against the Norway side with Molloy and skipper Mulhall also crossing the whitewash again. Ireland face three more qualifying fixtures in Pool 4 tomorrow against Switzerland, Scottish Select and Amazonas (Brazilian development team), before competing in the knockout stages later on.

Speaking about today’s performances, Anthony Eddy, Ireland’s head coach and IRFU Director of Rugby Sevens, said: “Overall the day was very pleasing as the team improved from game to game. There is still a lot of work to do and tomorrow will present new challenges.

“Day two of a tournament is always more difficult and this is something we have to embrace as a group if we are to be successful.”

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS SQUAD (2015 Amsterdam Sevens – Women’s Silver Pier Tournament, May 23-24, National Rugby Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands):

Eimear Considine
Katie Fitzhenry
Stacey Flood
Louise Galvin
Shannon Houston
Claire Keohane
Alison Miller
Claire Molloy
Lucy Mulhall (capt)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe
Emma Murphy
Jenny Murphy

IRELAND WOMEN’S RESULTS/FIXTURES –

Saturday, May 23:

Pool 1 –

Ireland 54 Ushizi Warriors 0 (Tries: Katie Fitzhenry, Claire Keohane, Alison Miller 2, Lucy Mulhall 2, Claire Molloy 2; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 7)

Ireland 45 Finland 0 (Tries: Lucy Mulhall, Eimear Considine, Claire Molloy 2, Shannon Houston, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Katie Fitzhenry; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 3, Jenny Murphy, Stacey Flood)

Ireland 52 Norwegian Vikingettes 0 (Tries: Eimear Considine 3, Louise Galvin 3, Claire Molloy, Lucy Mulhall; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 5, Claire Keohane)

Sunday, May 24:

Pool 4 –

Ireland v Switzerland
Ireland v Scottish Select
Ireland v Amazonas

Play-Offs

Women’s Sevens Olympic Qualification Process For Rio 2016 –

1. The top four teams in the World Series will automatically gain Olympic qualification. This will be decided at the final leg of the World Series being held on May 23-24 in Amsterdam. The current top four standings are New Zealand, Canada, Australia and USA.

2. There will be six regional qualifiers held during June and July 2015. The winners from each of these will qualify for the Olympics.

3. The last qualification place will be awarded to the winners of the World Repechage tournament which will be held in 2016.

4. Brazil automatically qualifies as the host nation and gets the 12th spot.

Ireland’s Olympic Qualification Process For Rio 2016 –

1. As the Ireland Women’s Sevens team are not in the World Series, the route to the Olympics is through the regional qualifiers for Europe. This year’s European Championship will be held over two consecutive weekends (Russia, June 13-14, and France, June 20-21). The winning side qualifies for the Olympics.

2. If Ireland does not win the 2015 European Championship, qualification is possible in 2016 through the 2016 World Repechage. To qualify for the World Repechage, Ireland must:

(a) Finish as runners-up of the 2015 European Championship or
(b) Finish in the top three of the European Repechage (Lisbon, July 2015)

The winners of the 2016 World Repechage will qualify for the Olympics.