Irish Rugby | Ireland Men’s Sevens Team: Olympic Games Factfile

European Games champions last summer and recent League runners-up in the HSBC SVNS Series, we take a closer look at the Ireland Men’s Sevens team’s Olympic experience, SVNS Series form, and some of the key men in the set-up.

– Ireland qualified for the 2024 Olympics after winning the European Games in Krakow last year, conceding just six tries in total en route to qualifying for their second Olympic Games

– Honours: 1993 and 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens bronze medallists; 2023 European Games champions; 2018 and 2023 Rugby Europe Sevens champions

– Olympic Games Record: 10th, Tokyo 2020; Played 5, Won 2 (W12-7 v Kenya, W31-0 v Republic of Korea), Lost 3 (L33-14 v South Africa, L19-17 v USA, L22-0 v Kenya)

– They were within seven points at half-time in all three defeats at the Tokyo Games in 2021, but were outscored significantly in the second half to lose two games by 19 points or more

– They were only able to scored more than two tries in a match on two occasions, crossing five times against the Republic of Korea and three times against the USA

– 2024 HSBC SVNS Series Record: Played 45, Won 26, Lost 19; Average tries scored per game = 2.8

– They recorded their highest finish in a single season in their history, placing second behind Argentina after the Singapore leg

– They were the only top three team this season not to win a Cup title, finishing second in Singapore and third in Perth, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong

– They scored 45% of their tries this season from set-piece possession, the third-highest ratio of any team, and their main scoring source

– Only 50% of their tries scored this season were directly assisted by a team-mate, the highest ratio of solo efforts on attack of any team

– They made the second-most visits to the opposition 22 of any team this season (173) but enjoy only the sixth highest success rate in the red zone (74%)

– They averaged the second fewest offloads per game of any team this season with 2.6 and, as a result, they were accurate with ball in hand, averaging the fewest errors of any team with 1.8 per game

– Their defence enjoyed the joint-third highest tackle completion rate of any team this season with 78%, alongside Australia. They did not concede more than 15 tries in a tournament, and held their opponents to three tries or less in 71% of their matches

– Ireland kicked just 65% of their conversion attempts this season, the fourth lowest success rate of any team. Fourteen of their 14 losses were by seven points or less

– They have selected seven survivors from Tokyo 2020 in their squad for Paris, with Gavin Mullin, Harry McNulty, Hugo Lennox, Jordan Conroy, Mark Roche, Terry Kennedy, and Jack Kelly all returning, while Bryan Mollen is a travelling reserve

– Gavin Mullin was their top try scorer at Tokyo 2020 with three. He was the only player to play every game for Ireland this season

– Terry Kennedy was the HSBC SVNS Series’ leading try scorer this season with 32, including the most hat-tricks of any player with three

– When he was not scoring, he was also creating them with a team-high 12 try assists, including four for Jordan Conroy and Zac Ward

– Fifteen of Kennedy’s 23 kicks in play this season were retained (65%), the second highest rate of any player who has made more than 10, behind Fiji’s Joseva Talacolo

– Despite Ireland rarely choosing to offload the ball in contact, Kennedy still made the second most of any player with 38, representing 33% of the team’s total of 117 this season

– Kennedy’s only try at Tokyo 2020 came against South Africa in their opening pool match

– Captain Harry McNulty made the most tackles of any player on the SVNS Series circuit this season with 77. His work in defence also saw him make the joint-second most steals with six, alongside France duo Antoine Dupont and Stephen Parez-Edo Martin

– Head coach James Topping played three World Series events for Ireland in 2000, and also featured at the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament

– Topping has been involved as either team manager, assistant coach or head coach, initially helping the Ireland Men to qualify as a core team for the 2020 World Series, make their Olympic Games debut in Tokyo, and most recently claim second place in the SVNS Series standings

– The former Ulster and Ireland winger has been Ireland’s head coach for their three SVNS Series Cup final appearances so far. Their first one, in Toulouse, in 2022, came in the same year as their World Cup Sevens bronze medal success in Cape Town