Irish Rugby | Ireland Sevens Match Tracker – Hong Kong

The Ireland Men’s Sevens team (sponsored by TritonLake) signed off at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens as bronze medal winners, following a deserved 14-5 win over Australia in the 3rd place play-off.

A first half brace of tries from Hugo Lennox did the trick for the Ireland Men, whose control of possession frustrated Australia until a last-minute try from Henry Palmer which went unconverted.

While disappointed to bow out to France in a 26-10 Cup semi-final defeat earlier on, it is a third bronze medal for James Topping’s side in four tournaments, and a fourth top four finish in five HSBC SVNS Series events.

Terry Kennedy and Zac Ward both touched down against France, taking their tallies for the weekend to five and four tries respectively. The performances of the in-form duo, and the wider Irish squad, bode well for the inaugural Grand Final in Madrid and the Paris Olympics.

There is one more SVNS Series stop in Singapore (May 3-5) before the title decider between the top eight teams in Madrid (May 31-June 2). Ireland remain second in the overall standings, picking up 16 points in Hong Kong to close the gap on Argentina to eight points – 94 to 86.

Meanwhile, the Ireland Women, having bowed out at the quarter-final stage to France yesterday, lost their final game in Hong Kong. Mei Ohtani’s late try gave Japan a 12-5 victory in the 7th place play-off.

Coach Allan Temple-Jones was working with a younger and more inexperienced squad, and there was more game-time at this level for the likes of Lucinda Kinghan, Vikki Wall, teenager Alanna Fitzpatrick, and Clare Gorman, who made her SVNS Series debut.

With injured captain Lucy Rock among the absentees, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe stepped up as skipper and certainly led by example, scoring five of Ireland’s seven tries to take her season’s haul to 21 in as many matches.

You can watch all of the HSBC SVNS Series matches for free on RugbyPass TV or on TNT Sports, while there is coverage of Ireland’s progress in Hong Kong across the @Ireland7s social media channels, and in our Ireland Sevens Hub.

IRELAND Results – HSBC SVNS Series, Hong Kong:

Friday, April 5 –

Ireland Men 17 South Africa 22 – Match Centre
Ireland Women 20 South Africa 7 – Match Centre
Ireland Men 12 Samoa 7 – Match Centre
Ireland Women 0 Australia 35 – Match Centre

Saturday, April 6 –

Ireland Men 12 Spain 5 – Match Centre
Ireland Women 5 Fiji 21 – Match Centre
Cup Quarter-Final: Ireland Women 7 France 31 – Match Centre
Cup Quarter-Final: Ireland Men 24 USA 19 – Match Centre

Sunday, April 7 –

7th Place Play-Off: Ireland Women 5 Japan 12 – Match Centre
Cup Semi-Final: Ireland Men 10 France 26 – Match Centre
3rd Place Play-Off: Ireland Men 14 Australia 5 – Match Centre

IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS Squad (2024 HSBC SVNS Series – Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, Hong Kong Stadium, Friday, April 5-Sunday, April 7, 2024):

Niall Comerford (UCD RFC)
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians RFC)
Ed Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College RFC)
Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC)
Zac McConnell (Ireland Sevens) *
Matthew McDonald (Ireland Sevens)
Harry McNulty (UCD RFC) (capt)
Bryan Mollen (UCD RFC)
Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC)
Chay Mullins (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht/IQ Rugby)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC)
Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC)

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (2024 HSBC SVNS Series – Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, Hong Kong Stadium, Friday, April 5-Sunday, April 7, 2024):

Natasja Behan (Blackrock College RFC)
Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC) (capt)
Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC/Blackrock College RFC)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC)
Clare Gorman (Old Belvedere RFC) *
Katie Heffernan (Railway Union RFC)
Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)
Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC)
Vikki Wall (Ireland Sevens)

* Denotes uncapped player at SVNS Series level