Ireland Strive For Greater Consistency Ahead Of Canada Sevens
Jordan Conroy in action against South Africa in LA last weekend. ©Mike Lee/KLC Fotos/World Rugby
Building from their quarter-final appearance in Los Angeles weekend, Ireland Men’s Sevens are striving to achieve greater consistency in their performance when the sixth leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series gets underway in Vancouver on Saturday.
Anthony Eddy‘s side added another 12 valuable World Series points to their overall tally at the LA Sevens as they reached their second quarter-final of the campaign, but the IRFU Director of Sevens and Women’s Rugby wants his side to kick on further and display the credentials required to reach the last four and beyond.
Victories over Canada and England, in addition to a 19-19 draw with eventual tournament winners South Africa, were coupled with heavy defeats to Kenya and Australia at the Dignity Health Sports Park for Ireland and the focus this week has been on trying to maintain a high level of performance throughout.
Sitting ninth in the World Series standings in their first year as a core team, Eddy’s side open their Canada Sevens campaign against Spain (10.31am local time/6.31pm Irish time\0 at BC Place Stadium on Saturday morning, before further Pool games against Kenya and New Zealand that day.
The 13-player squad arrived in Vancouver on Monday afternoon and have had two heavy training days on the pitch and in the gym, as well as visiting Britannia Elementary School as part of the Canada Sevens Community Visitor Programme and a breakfast function organised by the Irish Consulate in Vancouver.
“We’re really enjoying Vancouver, it’s our first time here as a group and I know the boys have been looking forward to it for a while,” Eddy told IrishRugby.ie.
“It was nice to pick up the points for finishing sixth in LA but the group understands we need to be more consistent. Ideally we’d like to be able to play a semi-final at some stage during the World Series legs and although we’ve made quarter-finals, we haven’t made that final step and there’s a fair bit of consistency that we need to improve on.”
Eddy said the group are hungry for betterment and success, with their first season on the World Series helping them to build towards June’s Olympic Repechage tournament.
“They’ve been a hungry group now for a number of years and they’re building towards something at the end of the World Series, with that being Olympic qualification,” he continued.
As long as we continue to show improvement from tournament to tournament that’s great but we’re looking for a more consistent performance from game to game from what we have been delivering recently.
After attending a Vancouver Canucks game on Wednesday evening, the players will enjoy a day off on Thursday when they will have the opportunity to explore the sights of the city while preparing their bodies and mind for the task ahead.
With almost all tickets pre-sold for the Canada Sevens, it is hoped there will be a considerable Irish crowd in attendance at BC Place over the weekend.
“I don’t think it matters where we go, the Irish support come out and always wave the flag for us and treat us to great hospitality,” Eddy added.
“We’re delighted to be playing in Vancouver and hopefully a lot of Irish supporters come out and watch us perform at the weekend.”
You can follow all the build-up to the Canada Sevens on IrishRugby.ie and on IRFU social media channels throughout the week.