Megan Burns was Ireland's joint-top try scorer in Lisbon with four tries ©INPHO/Martin Seras Lima
The Ireland Women’s Sevens team, sponsored by TritonLake, earned a fourth place finish at the opening leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship in Lisbon.
Ella Roberts, one of four players making their debuts, and Anna McGann each ran in a hat-trick of tries during Ireland’s final pool game against Romania.
The comprehensive 55-0 victory saw two more of the new caps impress as Maeve Liston grabbed the opening try and Ballinasloe youngster Méabh Deely landed five conversions, including two from out wide.
An experienced France team proved too strong in the Bronze final, winning 33-7 with Deely playing in Tullamore native Megan Burns late on for her fourth try of the weekend.
The Ireland Women will move on to the final leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship in Krakow next week, before the key focus of the summer campaign – the Rugby World Cup Sevens European qualifying tournament in Bucharest on July 16-17.
Liston and Roberts quickly crossed the whitewash against Romania, the latter finishing strongly in the right corner after the ball had been spun wide from a scrum in front of the posts.
Claire Boles snatched turnover ball on the ground, leading to Roberts doubling her tally. Burns then punished a loose Romanian kick, spinning out of a tackle to dart over to the left of the posts.
A Lucinda Kinghan turnover, followed by a couple of well-timed passes, released Burns for her second try right on the half-time hooter. Deely’s second successful conversion made it 29-0.
Romania lost possession at a scrum early on the restart, allowing lively replacement McGann to power over for try number six, converted by Deely.
McGann increased her influence, winning a penalty at the breakdown and taking it quickly to race clear from halfway for her second score. Deely added a sweetly-struck conversion from the left.
There was no stopping McGann from claiming a quick-fire hat-trick. Romania conceded a scrum inside their own 22 and the Athlone woman duly crashed over, taking two defenders with her over the line.
McGann turned provider for Ireland’s ninth and final try, releasing Roberts up the left touchline to make it a memorable hat-trick for the 21-year-old Wicklow native. Deely also tagged on the extras.
There were some evenly-fought passages of play during the first half of the Bronze final, but France took their chances well to lead 14-0 at the interval.
Joanna Grisez got clear of Vicky Elmes Kinlan out wide to score from her own half, while a late attack saw replacement Ian Jason take advantage of a missed tackle to run in under the posts.
Captain Lucy Mulhall, Eve Higgins and Kinghan had some promising runs, but Ireland could not get within scoring range and les Bleues extended their lead through Jason in the ninth minute.
France’s swarming defence continued to force errors, and a ball that squirted out of an Irish ruck was turned into a try for Carla Neisen, making it 26-0.
Another turnover proved costly for Ireland, who had Enya Breen sin-binned for a high tackle before the French worked the ball wide for Lou Noel to get on the scoresheet.
Deely inspired a late Irish rally with an initial break from deep and then an interception. She swiftly offloaded to Burns who stepped inside one defender and burst away from another to score from outside the French 22.
Enya Breen (UL Bohemian RFC)
Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)
Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC)
Katie Heffernan (Railway Union RFC)
Ella Roberts (Wicklow RFC)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)
Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC/DCU RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Maeve Liston (Blackrock College RFC)
Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC)
Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC)
Lucy Mulhall (Wicklow RFC) (capt)
Saturday, June 25 –
POOL B:
IRELAND 21 SPAIN 14, Jamor Stadium pitch 2
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Megan Burns, Lucy Mulhall 2; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 3
Spain: Tries: Maria Garcia, Maria Calvo; Cons: Amalia Argudo, Ingrid Algar
HT: Ireland 21 Spain 0
Team: Anna McGann, Claire Boles, Eve Higgins, Katie Heffernan, Lucy Mulhall (capt), Megan Burns, Kate Farrell McCabe.
Subs used: Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Enya Breen, Lucinda Kinghan, Maeve Liston.
SCOTLAND 19 IRELAND 12, Jamor Stadium pitch 2
Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Chloe Rollie, Meryl Smith 2; Cons: Helen Nelson 2
Ireland: Tries: Kate Farrell McCabe 2; Con: Lucy Mulhall
HT: Scotland 7 Ireland 5
Team: Anna McGann, Eve Higgins, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Katie Heffernan, Lucy Mulhall (capt), Megan Burns, Kate Farrell McCabe.
Subs used: Claire Boles, Maeve Liston, Lucinda Kinghan.
GERMANY 0 IRELAND 36, Jamor Stadium pitch 2
Scorers: Germany: –
Ireland: Tries: Katie Heffernan, Eve Higgins 4, Maeve Liston; Cons: Enya Breen, Lucy Mulhall, Méabh Deely
HT: Germany 0 Ireland 5
Team: Anna McGann, Claire Boles, Lucinda Kinghan, Katie Heffernan, Enya Breen, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Kate Farrell McCabe.
Subs used: Eve Higgins, Maeve Liston, Lucy Mulhall (capt), Méabh Deely, Ella Roberts.
Day 1 Round-Up: Valuable Game-Time For Ireland Women As Four New Caps Feature At Lisbon 7s
Sunday, June 26 –
POOL B:
ROMANIA 0 IRELAND 55, Jamor Stadium pitch 2
Scorers: Romania: –
Ireland: Tries: Maeve Liston, Ella Roberts 3, Megan Burns 2, Anna McGann 3; Cons: Méabh Deely 5
HT: Romania 0 Ireland 29
Team: Enya Breen, Claire Boles, Lucinda Kinghan, Maeve Liston, Méabh Deely, Megan Burns, Ella Roberts.
Sub used: Anna McGann.
Rugby Europe Sevens Championship – Lisbon 7s Results
Rugby Europe Sevens Championship – Lisbon 7s Pool Tables
BRONZE FINAL:
FRANCE 33 IRELAND 7, Jamor Stadium pitch 1
Scorers: France: Tries: Joanna Grisez, Ian Jason 2, Carla Neisen, Lou Noel; Cons: Jade Ulutule 2, Camille Grassineau 2
Ireland: Try: Megan Burns; Con: Méabh Deely
HT: France 14 Ireland 0
Team: Anna McGann, Eve Higgins, Lucinda Kinghan, Katie Heffernan, Lucy Mulhall (capt), Megan Burns, Vicky Elmes Kinlan.
Subs used: Maeve Liston, Claire Boles, Ella Roberts, Méabh Deely.
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