Ireland Women Set Up Spain Semi-Final In Krakow

The Ireland Women’s Sevens team, sponsored by TritonLake, completed a four-match winning run to finish top of Pool A and advance to the semi-finals at the Krakow 7s.

Aiden McNulty’s side defeated hosts Poland 21-10, the champions in Lisbon last week, and Germany 38-7 to move within two games of winning the final leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship.

Standing between them and a place in the final are Spain, the two teams meeting in the last-four tomorrow at 10.44am local time/9.44am Irish time. Poland and Scotland are the other semi-finalists.

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe finished the pool stages with six tries to her name, followed by Eve Higgins and Anna McGann (three each). Megan Burns, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Stacey Flood and captain Lucy Mulhall have scored two each.

After a nervy start from both teams, Ireland broke the deadlock against Poland in the third minute. Burns brilliantly spun away from Karolina Jaszczyszyn to scamper clear and score from 60 metres out.

Mulhall’s conversion was quickly followed by a second Irish try midway through the opening half. They worked scrum possession wide to Murphy Crowe who sidestepped around a defender to make it 14-0.

Erin King led an aggressive Irish defence that pinned Poland back, the pressure lead to Higgins going close before Flood struck from the resulting ruck, muscling over for Mulhall to convert from a tight angle.

The final seven minutes were scoreless, with defences on top and the slippery ball leading to handling errors. Poland had the only scoring chance, but the bounce of the ball went against the inrushing Natalia Pamieta.

Enya Breen was unleashed through the middle by Burns inside the opening minutes of the Germany game, and the Cork youngster spun a pass wide for Elmes Kinlan to finish off behind the posts.

Errors from both sides made for a stop-start first half, but Ireland’s accuracy returned when Burns drew in a defender and released Elmes Kinlan to sprint over from inside her own half.

Breen’s conversion might have been the final scoring act before the interval, but Gesine Adler ran in an impressive individual try to leave Germany only 14-7 behind.

Higgins marked her introduction off the bench by accelerating through a gap and handing off Clara Tauschek for Ireland’s third try, which went unconverted.

Lucinda Kinghan linked neatly with Breen in midfield and took a return pass to score in the 10th minute. Fellow Ulster native Claire Boles gobbled up Mulhall’s grubber-kicked restart and soon blocked down a German kick.

Germany were caught offside from another kick, the possession eventually leading to a Mulhall seven-pointer from her own in-and-out run.

In the dying seconds, Flood fed Murphy Crowe off a scrum and the Tipperary native showed her finishing skills to make it a 31-point winning margin in the end.

You can follow all the action live on Rugby Europe TV – click here for details.

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (2022 Rugby Europe Sevens Championship – Leg 2, Krakow, Poland, July 1-3, 2022):

Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)
Enya Breen (UL Bohemian RFC)
Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC)
Katie Heffernan (Railway Union RFC)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)
Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC/DCU RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Maeve Liston (Blackrock College RFC)
Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC)
Lucy Mulhall (Wicklow RFC) (capt)

RUGBY EUROPE SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIP – KRAKOW 7s FIXTURES/RESULTS:

Friday, July 1 –

POOL A:

IRELAND 40 CZECHIA 12, Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana – Watch Replay
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe 2, Anna McGann, Lucy Mulhall, Eve Higgins, Megan Burns; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 5
Czechia: Tries: Julie Dolezilova, Tereza Bathova; Con: Julie Dolezilova
HT: Ireland 21 Czechia 7

Team: Erin King, Eve Higgins, Anna McGann, Stacey Flood, Lucy Mulhall (capt), Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe.

Subs used: Claire Boles, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Maeve Liston, Lucinda Kinghan, Enya Breen.

IRELAND 38 ROMANIA 7, Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana – Watch Replay
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Anna McGann 2, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe 2, Eve Higgins, Stacey Flood; Cons: Enya Breen 4
Romania: Try: Elena Juncanariu; Con: Emilia Vitiziu
HT: Ireland 14 Romania 7

Team: Erin King, Claire Boles, Lucinda Kinghan, Maeve Liston, Enya Breen, Anna McGann, Vicky Elmes Kinlan.

Subs used: Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Eve Higgins, Katie Heffernan, Stacey Flood, Lucy Mulhall (capt).

Rugby Europe Sevens Championship – Krakow 7s Fixtures/Results

Rugby Europe Sevens Championship – Krakow 7s Pool Tables

Day 1 Round-Up: Solid Start For Ireland Women At Krakow 7s

Saturday, July 2 –

POOL A:

POLAND 0 IRELAND 21, Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana – Watch Replay
Scorers: Poland: –
Ireland: Tries: Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Stacey Flood; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 3
HT: Poland 0 Ireland 21

Team: Anna McGann, Eve Higgins, Erin King, Stacey Flood, Lucy Mulhall (capt), Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe.

Subs used: Katie Heffernan, Vicky Elmes Kinlan.

IRELAND 38 GERMANY 7, Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana – Watch Replay
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Vicky Elmes Kinlan 2, Eve Higgins, Lucinda Kinghan, Lucy Mulhall, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe; Cons: Enya Breen 3, Lucy Mulhall
Germany: Try: Gesine Adler; Con: Manja Bechtel
HT: Ireland 14 Germany 7

Team: Lucinda Kinghan, Maeve Liston, Claire Boles, Katie Heffernan, Enya Breen, Megan Burns, Vicky Elmes Kinlan.

Subs used: Eve Higgins, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Lucy Mulhall (capt), Stacey Flood.

Sunday, July 3 –

SEMI-FINAL:

IRELAND v SPAIN, Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana, 10.44am local time/9.44am Irish time