Ireland Men Finish Rugby Europe Sevens Opener In Second Place

Nick Greene, James Dillon, and JJ Kenny got their first experience of senior international Sevens rugby at the Makarska Sevens, and Ireland were unbeaten until being edged out 12-7 by France in the Cup final.

There was more game-time for Hugo Keenan, Andrew Smith, and Hugo Lennox, who were all involved in last week’s HSBC SVNS Grand Final in Madrid, while Sam Myers (Ireland Sevens assistant coach) and Bryan Mollen took the reins as coach and captain respectively.

It was an opportunity for players to press their claims for selection for Ireland’s squad for the Olympics, and Connor O’Sullivan impressively led the try-scoring with six from five starts. Greene chalked up four tries, closely followed by Zac McConnell and Josh Costello with three each.

The final day on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia began with a rematch between Pool A rivals Ireland and Germany. The Irish defence was rock solid during the opening minutes of the Cup semi-final, as the Germans attempted to build from deep.

Mollen swooped to win a turnover penalty, Lennox injected some pace and the green jersey twice came out to the left where Greene shrugged off Tim Lichtenberg’s challenge for a third-minute opener.

There were a couple of near misses with scores chalked off for Keenan, who was adjudged to have been in touch, and Mollen. However, there was no denying the skipper when he crashed over from a sixth-minute penalty, following good work from Keenan and O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan was next over the try-line, cruising over in the right corner from a lovely long pass from Lennox. It all came from a Smith turnover penalty off the restart, and replacement Matthew McDonald drove hard to make extra metres with his carry.

Lennox tagged on the two closing conversions, making it 19-0 at half-time. Germany needed a spark and it came from the lightning-quick Makkonen Amekuedi, who pulled back seven points inside two minutes of the restart.

As the Germans attempted to find a way through for a second score, Greene and McDonald combined to make a mess of a ruck, with the loose ball collected by Lennox for a 75-metre run-in to put 17 points between the sides.

O’Sullivan was prominent during the closing stages, tracking back to cover a German kick and wriggling out of a tackle. Costello brilliantly wrapped up the scoring with a 13th-minute effort, slipping by one defender and rolling out of an attempted tackle to raid in behind the posts.

Following that 31-7 victory, Ireland progressed to the Cup decider to face a youthful but highly-rated France side that had ended the title challenges of Portugal (40-12) and Georgia (26-7) in the knockout stages.

Ireland fell behind to a fast-paced start from les Bleus, who used the game’s first scrum to attack out to the left. Diego Miranda got past Costello and offloaded back inside for Enahemo Artaud to dive over for a five-pointer.

Gradually, the Irish passing began to stretch the French defence. Ed Kelly retrieved the ball after it had been slapped back towards the French 22, and O’Sullivan picked his moment to step inside Alexis Levron and hand off Luca Mignot for a classy finish under the posts.

Kelly’s conversion briefly split the teams, before French skipper Levron led a kick chase downfield. McDonald infringed at a ruck, and the possession was turned into a crucial seven points as the elusive Artaud jinked inside a couple of defenders to complete his brace.

Greene’s ball-dislodging tackle on Simon Desert kept the deficit at five points (12-7), and it was his impact at the breakdown that won a penalty early in the second half. With Mollen, Lennox, and Smith all introduced and another penalty awarded, Ireland now had a decent attacking platform.

The execution was just slightly off, though, as Lennox’s long pass had too much on it for Costello on the right wing. A French breakout was foiled when Levron was tap-tackled by Costello, and Smith managed to get back to deny Ali Dabo a try.

It was nip and tuck right to the finish, as the increasingly-influential Dabo pinched two Irish lineouts, either side of Kelly tackling Farell Delourmel into touch. A late half-break from Keenan offered hope but France’s dogged defence won out in the end.

The second and final leg of the Rugby Europe Men’s Sevens Championship takes place in the German city of Hamburg on June 28-30, just a few weeks ahead of the Men’s Sevens tournament at the Olympics in Paris (July 24-27).

IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS Squad (2024 Rugby Europe Men’s Sevens Championship Leg 1 – Makarska Sevens, City Sports Centre, Makarska, Croatia, Friday, June 7-Sunday, June 9, 2024):

Josh Costello (Shannon RFC)
James Dillon (Dublin University FC) *
Nick Greene (Garryowen FC) *
Hugo Keenan (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Ed Kelly (Dublin University (FC)
JJ Kenny (Ireland Sevens) *
Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC)
Zac McConnell (Ireland Sevens)
Matthew McDonald (Ireland Sevens)
Bryan Mollen (UCD RFC) (capt)
Connor O’Sullivan (Lansdowne FC)
Andrew Smith (Clontarf FC/Connacht)

* Denotes uncapped player

IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS Schedule – Makarska Sevens, Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Leg 1:

Friday, June 7 –

POOL A:

IRELAND 42 CROATIA 0, City Sports Centre, Makarska
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Zac McConnell 2, Connor O’Sullivan, James Dillon, JJ Kenny; Cons: Ed Kelly 5, Bryan Mollen
Croatia: –
HT: Ireland 21 Croatia 0

Watch Match Replay

Team: Nick Greene, Connor O’Sullivan, Matthew McDonald, Ed Kelly, Bryan Mollen (capt), Zac McConnell, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: James Dillon, JJ Kenny, Andrew Smith. Not used: Hugo Lennox.

IRELAND 12 GERMANY 12, City Sports Centre, Makarska
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Nick Greene, Connor O’Sullivan; Con: Ed Kelly
Germany: Tries: Ben Ellermann, Jakob Dipper; Con: Niklas Koch
HT: Ireland 12 Germany 5

Watch Match Replay

Team: Nick Greene, Andrew Smith, Matthew McDonald, Ed Kelly, Bryan Mollen (capt), Zac McConnell, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: Connor O’Sullivan, James Dillon, JJ Kenny.

Saturday, June 8 –

POOL A:

IRELAND 17 GEORGIA 10, City Sports Centre, Makarska
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Josh Costello, Connor O’Sullivan 2; Con: Hugo Lennox
Georgia: Tries: Giorgi Jobava, Luka Alibegashvili
HT: Ireland 0 Georgia 5

Watch Match Replay

Team: Nick Greene, Connor O’Sullivan, Matthew McDonald, Ed Kelly, Bryan Mollen (capt), James Dillon, JJ Kenny.

Replacements used: Hugo Keenan, Josh Costello, Zac McConnell, Hugo Lennox, Andrew Smith.

CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

IRELAND 24 GREAT BRITAIN 7, City Sports Centre, Makarska
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Nick Greene 2, Zac McConnell, Josh Costello; Cons: Hugo Lennox 2
Great Britain: Try: Ollie Dawkins; Con: Sunni Jardine
HT: Ireland 17 Great Britain 7

Watch Match Replay

Team: Nick Greene, Connor O’Sullivan, Andrew Smith, Hugo Lennox, Hugo Keenan, Zac McConnell, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: Matthew McDonald, Ed Kelly, Bryan Mollen (capt), James Dillon, JJ Kenny.

Sunday, June 9 –

CUP SEMI-FINAL:

GERMANY 7 IRELAND 31, City Sports Centre, Makarska
Scorers: Germany: Try: Makkonen Amekuedi; Con: Felix Hufnagel
Ireland: Tries: Nick Greene, Bryan Mollen, Connor O’Sullivan, Hugo Lennox, Josh Costello; Cons: Hugo Lennox 2, Ed Kelly
HT: Germany 0 Ireland 19

Watch Match Replay

Team: Nick Greene, Connor O’Sullivan, Andrew Smith, Hugo Lennox, Bryan Mollen (capt), Hugo Keenan, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: Matthew McDonald, James Dillon, Ed Kelly, JJ Kenny. Not used: Zac McConnell.

CUP FINAL:

FRANCE 12 IRELAND 7, City Sports Centre, Makarska
Scorers: France: Tries: Enahemo Artaud 2; Con: Luca Mignot
Ireland: Try: Connor O’Sullivan; Con: Ed Kelly
HT: France 12 Ireland 7

Watch Match Replay

Team: Nick Greene, Connor O’Sullivan, Matthew McDonald, Ed Kelly, Hugo Keenan, James Dillon, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: Bryan Mollen (capt), Hugo Lennox, Andrew Smith, JJ Kenny. Not used: Zac McConnell.