Get To Know The Ireland Sevens Squads
Billy Dardis made his World Series debut in London 2018. ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
There are just 20 days to go until the Ireland Men’s Sevens make their debut as a core team on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, where they will join the Ireland Women’s Sevens in the first combined event of the 2020 season in Dubai.
After qualifying for the World Series in Hong Kong last April, Anthony Eddy‘s side, who have made four previous appearances as an invitational side, will officially join the top table of Sevens rugby at the Dubai Sevens Stadium from 5-7 December.
Now in the final stages of pre-season, the Ireland Men are fine-tuning their preparations for a landmark season, which will also see them bid to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo at the World Rugby Repechage tournament next June.
Stan McDowell’s Ireland Women, meanwhile, are preparing to embark on the second leg of their third season on the World Series having opened their campaign with an eighth-place finish in Glendale in October.
With both teams on the World Series for the first time, anticipation is building ahead of the Dubai and Cape Town double-header, and to help you get to know the squads a little bit better, we’ll be running a series of player profiles across Irish Rugby social media channels.
Starting with Ireland Men’s captain Billy Dardis and Ireland Women’s captain Lucy Mulhall, it’s time to boost your knowledge of the Sevens squads and you can follow all the build-up to Dubai across on the Irish Rugby Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Capped 33 times, Lucy Mulhall is captain of the #IreW7s having made her senior Sevens debut in Brive in 2013 ☘️
Lucy plays out-half and has scored 3⃣4⃣3⃣ @WorldRugby7s points for Ireland 💪#ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/Z0LqUhwLmG
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 15, 2019
Leading #IreM7s into their debut season as a core team on the @WorldRugby7s is captain Billy Dardis 👊
Since making his senior Sevens debut in Malmo in 2016, Billy has won 20 Ireland caps ☘️#ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/tXtoERFB9h
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 15, 2019
Terry Kennedy has been on every step of this journey with #IreM7s and now he’s ready for the @WorldRugby7s stage🙌
Since making his senior Sevens debut in Zagreb in 2015, Terry has won 1⃣6⃣ Ireland caps ☘️#ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/bch3fGPe0Y
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 19, 2019
One of ‘The Originals' from 2015, Mark Roche has played a key role in the journey to @WorldRugby7s qualification ☘️
The scrum-half has won 1️⃣7️⃣ caps and was named in the 2018 London Sevens Dream Team when #IreM7s won a memorable bronze medal 🥉#ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/GbGOvX7DnE
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 18, 2019
Named in last season’s @WorldRugby7s Dream Team and winner of the 2019 Women’s World Series Top Try Scorer award, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe is Ireland’s flying winger 🚀
Amee-Leigh has scored 4⃣4⃣0⃣World Series points for #IreW7s ☘️ #ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/tK3C5Eos91
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 18, 2019
Introducing #IreM7s forward Adam Leavy 👊
Since making his senior Sevens debut in Exeter in 2017, Adam has won 9️⃣ caps for Ireland ☘️#ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/8EUAWYQf7K
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 17, 2019
Having also represented Ireland at the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup, Katie Fitzhenry is a key player for the #IreW7s on the @worldrugby7s series ☘️
The forward has won 2️⃣4️⃣ Sevens caps and scored 8️⃣ World Series tries 🏉#ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/C2qBeovF5G
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 16, 2019
After helping #IreM7s to World Series qualification in Hong Kong last April, Greg O'Shea is ready for a big @WorldRugby7s season in green ☘️
Since making his senior Sevens debut in 2017, Greg has won 13 Ireland caps 🧢#ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/PPQ7BzqHiq
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 16, 2019