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Ireland Women Finish Eighth After Frustrating Hong Kong Campaign

Eve Higgins crossed for a brace of tries during Ireland's play-off encounter with the USA in Hong Kong ©INPHO/Martin Seras Lima

The Ireland Women (sponsored by TritonLake) emerged without a win on the final day of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, meaning the battle for Olympic qualification is set to go right down to the wire.

Eve Higgins tried to inspire Ireland with three tries in today’s play-offs, but they were unable to build on half-time leads as both France and the USA took the spoils, winning 26-14 and 15-14 respectively.

It left the girls in green with a second successive eighth place finish, the six HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series points gained being just enough to keep them ahead of Fiji in their bid to reach the Olympics for the first time.

With bronze medal winners Great Britain and Fiji, who finished fourth, both impressing in Hong Kong, Ireland’s lead in the overall standings is now down to just two points. It is a three-horse race for the final automatic Olympic spot.

Fifth-placed Ireland (64 points), Fiji (62) and Britain (60) will head to the season’s final leg in Toulouse (May 12-14), knowing exactly what they have to do in order to claim that priceless Paris 2024 ticket.

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Stacey Flood was prominent during the opening minutes of the 5th place semi-final against France. She followed up on an early interception with a well-won turnover penalty, keeping the French inside their own 10-metre line.

Les Bleues managed to score from deep soon after, though, as Séraphine Okemba’s offload out of a tackle released Caroline Drouin and she fed Lili Dezou outside her for a 60-metre run-in.

Ireland captain Lucy Mulhall’s determined chase made sure the conversion was more difficult, and with Drouin’s kick sailing wide, the gap was only five points.

The smothering Irish defence prevented France from gaining territory – Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Emily Lane both won penalties at the breakdown – and Flood’s quick tap and pass sent Higgins over for Mulhall to convert.

Turning around with a 7-5 advantage, Ireland felt aggrieved when what appeared to be a forward pass from Okemba put Chloé Pelle charging over for the second half’s opening try, converted by Drouin.

France then capitalised on a loose Béibhinn Parsons offload which Murphy Crowe knocked on. From the resulting scrum, Dezou cut inside Higgins in midfield and stayed clear of the chasing Lane to go in under the posts.

The fresh-legged Megan Burns broke away from two defenders for a superb 80-metre solo try, which Mulhall converted to close the gap to 19-14 with just over two minutes remaining.

Strong counter-rucking allowed Vicky Elmes Kinlan to win turnover ball inside the dying seconds, but Montserrat Amedee covered a Mulhall kick and released speed merchant Okemba for an excellent breakaway score to settle the issue.

For their final outing of the tournament, Ireland renewed rivalries with the third-ranked USA. They fell behind to a long-range Cheta Emba try, with some clever work in the build-up from Naya Tapper and Alena Olsen.

The Irish attack then began to cause problems for the US, with Tapper having to close down Mulhall on the right before Ariana Ramsey was put under pressure, near her own line, by an intelligent kick from Flood.

From a sixth-minute scrum, Higgins neatly took advantage of two missed tackles to dot down under the posts. Mulhall’s conversion split the sides at the interval – 7-5 – with Murphy Crowe beginning to see more of the ball on both wings.

The Americans hit back two minutes after the restart, Ember winning the battle at the breakdown before a precise spread of passes gave Ramsey enough room to score past Murphy Crowe in the left corner.

The ball appeared to go forward from Ember at an 11th-minute Irish lineout, but referee Eki Fanlo allowed play to continue and the Eagles profited with some quick passing as Ramsey sped over to make it 15-7.

Although Erin King and Claire Boles provided some physical impact off the bench, Ireland ran out of time. Higgins’ second try – set up by Parsons’ nicely-timed one-handed offload out of a tackle – unfortunately came 25 seconds past the final hooter.

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, Hong Kong Stadium, Friday, March 31-Sunday, April 2, 2023):

Kathy Baker (Blackrock College RFC)
Claire Boles (Railway Union 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)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)
Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC)
Lucy Mulhall (Wicklow RFC) (capt)
Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC)

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Schedule – Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens:

Friday, March 31 –

POOL B:

FIJI 17 IRELAND 7, Hong Kong Stadium
Scorers: Fiji: Tries: Raijieli Daveua, Meredani Qoro, Younis Bese; Con: Ana Maria Naimasi
Ireland: Try: Stacey Flood; Con: Lucy Mulhall
HT: Fiji 0 Ireland 7