Ireland Men Advance As Pool Winners In Zagreb

Conroy crossed four times in the 53-0 win over Denmark, there were hat-tricks for Fergus Jemphrey and Harry McNulty against Latvia (48-0), and James Topping’s side completed a clean sweep with a 43-7 victory over Romania.

They will return to Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić tomorrow morning for their Cup quarter-final against the second best third-place finishers, Israel (kick-off 10.28am Irish time). England and Wales topped the other pools with a trio of wins each.

Returning to European competition for the first time since 2019, Ireland brought a number of their experienced World Series players to the Croatian capital as they build towards July’s Rugby World Cup Sevens European qualifier.

Conroy evaded two defenders to grab the opening try against Denmark from halfway, and the Tullamore man added a quick-fire second after a turnover won by Chay Mullins and an arcing pass from Tom Roche.

Conroy spun the ball wide for Sean Kearns to score and also convert from out wide. Mullins then broke a tackle for a 40-metre run-in.

Out-half Kearns ended the first half with 16 points to his name, his late sidestepping run seeing Ireland take a 31-0 lead into half-time.

Denmark enjoyed some territory before Conroy restarted the scoring with less than three minutes remaining. He crossed in the left corner via replacement Sean Cribbin’s quick tap and pass.

Ireland squeezed in three more tries before the finish, a move from a scrum putting Aaron O’Sullivan over before Mullins shrugged off three defenders to complete his brace.

Captain Billy Dardis converted and hit the post with the final kick off the game, following Conroy’s fourth touchdown as he punished a Danish handling error to romp clear from inside the Irish half.

A fine solo effort from Jemphrey got Ireland on the board early against Latvia. Cribbin converted and quickly made it 14-0, tagging on a straightforward kick after McNulty had tapped the restart down for Jemphrey to charge clear again.

The IQ Rugby recruit completed his hat-trick following a strong tackle by O’Sullivan close to the Latvian line. Some nice interplay up the right wing between O’Sullivan and Ed Kelly then released the supporting Cribbin to score from 40 metres out.

Kelly raided over straight from the restart to make it 33-0 at the interval, and McNulty added five more points in the 10th minute, set free by Jemphrey’s well-timed offload out the back door.

McNulty doubled his tally having combined with replacement Mullins near the left corner, and the same two players linked up for Ireland’s eighth and final try when a neat offload out of a tackle saw McNulty register his hat-trick.

Romania seized an early lead in the pool decider, Silviu Mircea chipping through and getting his boot to the ball again, ahead of Kearns, before regathering it to go in behind the posts.

O’Sullivan barged his way over in response, with Matthew McDonald supplying the assist. McNulty moved Ireland ahead in the fifth minute, the Romanian defence stretched by some good width and the jinking runs of Roche.

Sioeli Lama then saw yellow for a high tackle on Kearns, the freshly-introduced Conroy bursting clear of four players to zoom in under the posts. Fellow replacement Dardis converted.

Leading 17-7 at the break, Ireland kicked on with Mullins darting over from McDonald’s inviting offload. Dardis converted and also added the extras to Roche’s 10th-minute touchdown, set up by a delayed pass from Bryan Mollen.

Introduced off the bench, Jemphrey went over untouched following a turnover penalty won by Cribbin. Conroy made it a seven-try triumph in the end, fending off two defenders to go over from close range and also convert.

All matches are live on Rugby Europe TV here.

IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS Squad (2022 Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy Series – Leg 1, Zagreb, June 11-12, 2022):

Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC)
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians RFC)
Billy Dardis (Terenure College RFC) (capt)
Fergus Jemphrey (Blackheath RFC/IQ Rugby)
Sean Kearns (Ireland Sevens)
Ed Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Steven Kilgallen (UCD RFC)
Matt McDonald (IQ Rugby)
Harry McNulty (UCD RFC)
Bryan Mollen (Blackrock College RFC)
Chay Mullins (IQ Rugby)
Aaron O’Sullivan (Blackrock College RFC)
Tom Roche (Lansdowne FC)

RUGBY EUROPE SEVENS TROPHY SERIES – ZAGREB 7s FIXTURES/RESULTS:

Saturday, June 11 –

POOL A:

IRELAND 53 DENMARK 0, Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Jordan Conroy 4, Sean Kearns 2, Chay Mullins 2, Aaron O’Sullivan; Cons: Sean Kearns 3, Billy Dardis
Denmark: –
HT: Ireland 31 Denmark 0

Team: Bryan Mollen, Tom Roche, Chay Mullins, Steven Kilgallen, Sean Kearns, Jordan Conroy, Ed Kelly.

Subs used: Aaron O’Sullivan, Sean Cribbin, Matthew McDonald, Fergus Jemphrey, Billy Dardis (capt).

IRELAND 48 LATVIA 0, Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Fergus Jemphrey 3, Sean Cribbin, Ed Kelly, Harry McNulty 3; Cons: Sean Cribbin 4
Latvia: –
HT: Ireland 33 Latvia 0

Team: Harry McNulty, Fergus Jemphrey, Matthew McDonald, Steven Kilgallen, Sean Cribbin, Aaron O’Sullivan, Ed Kelly.

Subs used: Chay Mullins, Sean Kearns, Billy Dardis (capt), Tom Roche, Bryan Mollen.

IRELAND 43 ROMANIA 7, Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Aaron O’Sullivan, Harry McNulty, Jordan Conroy 2, Chay Mullins, Tom Roche, Fergus Jemphrey; Cons: Billy Dardis 3, Jordan Conroy
Romania: Try: Silviu Mircea; Con: Marius Chiriac
HT: Ireland Romania 7

Team: Harry McNulty, Bryan Mollen, Matthew McDonald, Steven Kilgallen, Sean Kearns, Tom Roche, Aaron O’Sullivan.

Subs used: Jordan Conroy, Billy Dardis (capt), Chay Mullins, Sean Cribbin, Fergus Jemphrey.

Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy Series – Zagreb 7s Fixtures/Results

Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy Series – Zagreb 7s Pool Tables

Sunday, June 12 –

CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

IRELAND v ISRAEL, Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić, 11.28am local time/10.28am Irish time