Topping’s Charges Tuning Up For Olympic Challenge

Ireland Men’s Sevens head coach James Topping wants his players to embrace the full Olympic experience in Paris, having played without spectators at the Covid-19-impacted Tokyo Games three years ago.

It was a slightly diluted Olympic debut for the Ireland Men’s Sevens team in 2021, as their historic qualification through the Repechage route meant a much shorter preparation period than their opponents in Japan.

There were just five weeks between qualifying in Monaco and Ireland’s first Olympic game, leaving them playing catch-up against the likes of pool rivals, South Africa and the USA, who had secured their Olympic places over 12 months prior.

This time around, Topping’s side have had the benefit of a full year to prepare for Paris 2024 after winning the European Games, the regional qualifier for the Olympics, in Krakow last summer.

Brilliantly consistent throughout the recent HSBC SVNS Series, they intend on mounting a strong medal challenge next week, with Irish fans set to travel in big numbers, and a massive global TV audience watching each match.

With France star Antoine Dupont one of the faces of the Games, and more eyeballs on Rugby Sevens than ever before, Topping said: “Yeah, it’s certainly grown, and I think for us guys who went to the last Tokyo Olympics, there were no crowds and it was a bit of a short lead-in, so they didn’t get a full experience.

“We’re training hard to try and get a medal but we also have to deal with everything else which goes with that. The players worked really hard all year, the whole squad, and I think they deserve a bit of exposure.

“I think they deserve that wee bit of time in the limelight because they know they’ll have that, and then when it comes to our training and it comes to performing, we are back on the pitch, fully committed to the actual playing side of it.”

Like Dupont, Ireland’s squad for Paris 2024 includes two players who have switched back across from 15s – Hugo Keenan and Andrew Smith. The pair returned to the IRFU Sevens programme in May and played the last three tournaments.

Following a bad run of luck for the team with injuries, Keenan and Smith helped them to a fifth place finish at the HSBC SVNS Grand Final in Madrid, before taking part in the two Rugby Europe Sevens Championship legs, the last of which Ireland won in Hamburg.

Keenan shone on the World Series stage before becoming Leinster and Ireland’s first-choice full-back, and Smith’s stellar performances earned him the Ireland Men’s Sevens Player of the Year award in 2023, so Topping knows exactly what impact the duo could make in Paris.

In selecting them in his squad for the Olympic campaign, which begins for the Men’s side next Wednesday, the Ballymena man had the tough task of telling other players that they had not made the cut.

“I think it’s the worst (telling players they’ve missed out),” he admitted. “There’s a lot of guys who have been dependable all year in our squad. They’ve all had a good crack through the World Series, and everybody coming into the room had a 50:50 or a good chance.

“It’s been very close, and I made sure the guys know this is a case of the guys getting picked, they just did really well. A lot of it is my selection as well, so the way it’s worked, the guys have helped each other out over the year, and have unfortunately missed out.

“We’ve been pretty strong as a team all year, and for us it showed in training before selection (for Paris). The other guys not selected were very encouraging to the other guys, and stepped back up straight away into training.

“They all realise now that we’ve got to make sure the guys who are picked have the best opportunity going into the Olympics.”

He added: “Sean Cribbin, who plays in Hugo’s position, is one of the guys (who missed out), and Bryan Mollen. I asked them beforehand when the squad was selected, how they felt about them coming in, and they just said, ‘it’s a real challenge’, and that’s the way they looked at it.

“They are going as our additional reserve players, Sean and Bryan. They’re more than willing to support the squad and step in.

“Once they saw Hugo playing and saw what he can do – it hasn’t been perfect, but I think he made an impact during those recent tournaments.

“For someone who literally came off the plane having played in a European Cup final and hopped on a six o’clock flight the following morning, it shows the commitment that he’s put in. The guys appreciate that, because that’s what it takes, a lot of commitment.”

The 12-player group, led by captain Harry McNulty, are currently in Tours in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France, in the midst of a 10-day training camp. Cribbin and Mollen, the two reserves, are also involved, along with Ed Kelly and Connor O’Sullivan.

McNulty is one of seven players set to become a double Olympian, and with the Ireland Men’s record try scorer, Jordan Conroy, and Terry Kennedy, the 2022 World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year, on board again, Topping’s charges look well equipped to contend for top honours.

A lot will depend on how Ireland fare in a heavyweight Pool A, alongside New Zealand, the silver medallists in Tokyo, recent Repechage winners South Africa, and Japan, who were relegated from the World Series in 2023.

They face South Africa first up next Wednesday (kick-off 4.30pm Irish time), in a repeat of their opener at the last Olympics which the Blitzboks won in decisive fashion, 33-14.

Tenth place finishers in 2021, this Ireland team have three more years of World Series experience under their belt – and a 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens bronze medal to boot – and their record against South Africa this season encouragingly shows five wins and just one defeat.

With Keenan and Smith back to bolster the squad, Topping acknowledged: “We’ve done well this year, but yeah, Hugo does give us a wee bit of extra impetus. I think definitely other teams look at him and are wary of him whenever they see him playing, even the last few tournaments.

“I also think that it’s something which improves our team dynamic, which is an important thing. I’m not picking the best players the whole time. If we just had seven Terry Kennedys playing we probably wouldn’t win many games.

“We need guys that can win balls in the air, guys who can make turnovers, who can make tackles, and Hugo fits in with the sort of personnel that we require in the team, as does Andrew and the sort of style that he brings to the game.”