The Ireland Men’s Sevens squad for the Dubai 7s Invitational tournament has been named. The side features eight players who competed at the recent Silicon Valley 7s in San Jose.
Billy Dardis (pictured below in the new Ireland Sevens jersey), Ian Fitzpatrick, Terry Kennedy, Harry McNulty, Bryan Mollen, John O’Donnell, Greg O’Shea and Mark Roche all played in the Stateside tournament at the start of November.
Hugo Keenan, Alex McHenry and Jimmy O’Brien come back into the squad for Dubai, while Suttonians youngster Sean Cribbin is set for his first Irish Sevens trip.
Ireland are drawn into Pool C, with Germany, France Development and Old Georgians RFC. The Dubai 7s Invitational features several other international sides, including the likes of Georgia, Zambia, England Development (Royals), the South African 7s Academy and the Canada Maple Leafs.
Speaking on confirmation of the squad, IRFU Director of Sevens Rugby, Anthony Eddy, said: “We’ve named a strong side to travel out to Dubai for the Invitational tournament, and the players that have been selected have all played against top international teams already this season at the likes of the Oktoberfest 7s and the Silicon Valley 7s.
“With the likes of Germany and the French development side in our pool, it’s set to be a challenging opening day and will be another good test for the players as we continue to build towards the Hong Kong Repechage next April.”
The Dubai 7s Invitational tournament takes place on Friday and Saturday at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai. The extended Dubai Rugby Sevens is expected to welcome over 100,000 fans over the three days with many coming in fancy dress and enjoying the Rugby Village and sporting action all weekend long.
Tickets for the Dubai Rugby Sevens can be purchased online at www.dubairugby7s.com.
Buy the new Ireland Sevens jersey exclusively from Elverys – click here.
IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS Squad (Dubai 7s Invitational Tournament, The Sevens Stadium, Dubai, Friday, December 1-Saturday, December 2):
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians)
Billy Dardis (UCD) (capt)
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Alex McHenry (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Harry McNulty (UCD)
Bryan Mollen (Dublin University)
Jimmy O’Brien (UCD/Leinster)
John O’Donnell (Lansdowne)
Greg O’Shea (Shannon)
Mark Roche (Blackrock College)
IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS FIXTURES – DUBAI 7s INVITATIONAL:
Friday, December 1 –
Pool C:
Ireland v Germany, 3.40pm local time/11.40am Irish time
Old Georgians RFC v Ireland, 7.06pm local time/3.06pm Irish time
Ireland v Franc e Development, 9pm local time/5pm Irish time
Saturday, December 2 –
Play-Offs
IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS 2017/18 Tournament Schedule –
Oktoberfest 7s, Munich, Germany – September 29-30 (Seventh Place)
Elche 7s, Elche, Spain – October 28-29 (Runners-Up)
Silicon Valley 7s, San Jose, USA – November 4-5 (Bowl Champions)
Dubai 7s, Dubai, UAE – December 1-2
Hong Kong 7s (World Series Repechage), Hong Kong – April 7-8
Amsterdam 7s, Amsterdam, Netherlands – June 9-10
Rugby World Cup Sevens, San Francisco, USA – July 20-22
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