Ireland Men’s Sevens – Day One Preview

An electric atmosphere is expected for the opening day of the Men’s Rugby Sevens tournament at the Olympics, as the Ireland Men kick off their medal bid at the Stade de France.

The matches are available to watch live on RTÉ 2, the BBC iPlayer & Red Button, and Eurosport 2. Check listings in other regions for your local broadcaster.

Ireland Sevens Squads – 2024 Olympic Games

2024 Olympic Games – Match Schedule

Ireland Sevens – Where To Watch The Olympic Games

2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – MEN’S RUGBY SEVENS TOURNAMENT DAY ONE:

POOL A –

IRELAND v SOUTH AFRICA, Stade de France, 5.30pm local time/4.30pm Irish time – Match Centre

IRELAND Profile

Head Coach: James Topping
Captain: Harry McNulty

Olympic Record: Rio 2016 – Did not qualify; Tokyo 2020 – 10th
Paris 2024 Seeding: 6th

2024 SVNS Series Ranking: League runners-up
2024 SVNS Series Top Try & Points Scorer: Terry Kennedy (32 tries, 160 points)

Did You Know?: A Men’s Six Nations winner already this year with Ireland in 15s, Hugo Keenan has been lured back to Sevens by the possibility of Olympic gold to complete a unique double.

Player To Watch: Terry Kennedy

One half of Ireland’s prolific try-scoring double act with Jordan Conroy, the pair’s almost telepathic understanding has been a key factor in Ireland’s success over the years. Kennedy certainly knows his way to the try-line and has been the top scorer on the SVNS Series twice in the last three years, combining that with the World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year accolade in 2022.

SOUTH AFRICA Profile

Head Coach: Philip Snyman
Captain: Selvyn Davids

Olympic Record: Rio 2016 – Bronze medallists; Tokyo 2020 – 5th
Paris 2024 Seeding: 7th

2024 SVNS Series Ranking: 7th (Regular season)
2024 SVNS Series Titles: 1 (Dubai)
2024 SVNS Series Top Try & Points Scorer: Quewin Nortje (18 tries, 90 points)

Did You Know?: South Africa were the final team to qualify for Paris 2024, beating Great Britain 14-5 in the World Rugby Sevens Repechage final in Monaco on Sunday, June 23. They had failed to qualify via the 2023 World Series or the African regional qualifier.

Player To Watch: Rosko Specman

A bronze medallist at Rio 2016, Specman stepped away from Sevens at the end of 2020 to focus on 15s and try to realise a dream of playing for the Springboks in Test rugby, something he achieved against Georgia in 2021. A shot at a second Olympic Games, though, saw ‘Specmagic’ return to Sevens this season and, despite turning 35 in April, he quickly showed he had lost none of his mesmerising footwork that has tormented many a defence over the years.

Ireland v South Africa – Head-To-Head Statistics:

World Series Matches: 21; Ireland Won: 8; South Africa Won: 12; Drawn: 1

Last Five Meetings: 2024 – Ireland 22 South Africa 10, Vancouver; Ireland 17 South Africa 0, Los Angeles; South Africa 22 Ireland 17, Hong Kong; Ireland 26 South Africa 21, Madrid; Ireland 12 South Africa 7, Madrid

– After winning just three of their first 15 meetings on the World series, Ireland dominated the fixture this season, winning five of their six matches

– The past three games have been decided by exactly five points, the longest run of matches decided by the same scoreline

– This has been an incredibly tight fixture since Ireland became a core team in 2020, with 13 of their 19 matches in this period decided by a single figure margin. Only six times has the winning team recorded a victory by more than a two-try margin

– Ireland have only come from behind at half-time to defeat South Africa once since becoming a core team, overturning a seven-point deficit at the break in their pool match at the Madrid Grand Final to win 26-21

– This will be sixth time they have met outside of the World Series, with four games at the Rugby World Cup Sevens across the 1997, 2018, and 2022 tournaments, and in the pool phase at Tokyo 2020

– Ireland’s only non-World Series victory over South Africa came in the Championship quarter-final at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town

– Zac Ward has scored seven tries in six SVNS Series games against South Africa this season, including two braces

– Olympic Games Head-to-Head: They were drawn in the same pool at Tokyo 2020, with South Africa winning 33-14. It was a tight first half, with the Blitzboks leading 14-7 at the break before outscoring Ireland 19-7 during the closing period

– World Series Head-to-Head in France: Their only previous meeting on French soil came in Toulouse in 2022, with South Africa winning their pool match, 21-12

IRELAND Squad: 1. Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC), 2. Andrew Smith (Clontarf FC/Connacht), 3. Harry McNulty (UCD RFC) (capt), 4. Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC), 5. Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC), 6. Chay Mullins (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht/IQ Rugby), 7. Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC), 8. Hugo Keenan (UCD RFC/Leinster), 9. Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC), 10. Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College), 11. Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC), 12. Niall Comerford (UCD RFC).

SOUTH AFRICA Squad: 1. Christie Grobbelaar, 2. Ryan Oosthuizen, 3. Impi Visser, 4. Zain Davids, 5. Quewin Nortje, 6. Tiaan Pretorious, 7. Tristan Leyds, 8. Selvyn Davids (capt), 9. Shaun Williams, 10. Rosko Specman, 11. Siviwe Soyizwapi, 12. Shilton van Wyk.

IRELAND v JAPAN, Stade de France, 9pm local time/8pm Irish time – Match Centre

IRELAND Profile

Head Coach: James Topping
Captain: Harry McNulty

Olympic Record: Rio 2016 – Did not qualify; Tokyo 2020 – 10th
Paris 2024 Seeding: 6th

2024 SVNS Series Ranking: League runners-up
2024 SVNS Series Top Try & Points Scorer: Terry Kennedy (32 tries, 160 points)

Did You Know?: A Men’s Six Nations winner already this year with Ireland in 15s, Hugo Keenan has been lured back to Sevens by the possibility of Olympic gold to complete a unique double.

Player To Watch: Terry Kennedy

One half of Ireland’s prolific try-scoring double act with Jordan Conroy, the pair’s almost telepathic understanding has been a key factor in Ireland’s success over the years. Kennedy certainly knows his way to the try-line and has been the top scorer on the SVNS Series twice in the last three years, combining that with the World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year accolade in 2022.

JAPAN Profile

Head Coach: Simon Amor
Captain: Kippei Ishida

Olympic Record: Rio 2016 – 4th; Tokyo 2020 – 12th
Paris 2024 Seeding: 12th

2024 SVNS Series Ranking: Did not play
2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series: 8th
2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series Top Try & Points Scorer: Shotaro Tsuoka (13 tries, 65 points)

Did You Know?: Simon Amor coached Great Britain at Rio 2016, with his side edging out Japan 21-19, a few hours after the Japanese had stunned the then-World champions New Zealand, 14-12, in their opener.

Player To Watch: Kippei Ishida

The sole survivor from Japan’s Tokyo 2020 squad, Ishida has become a regular in the team in the three years since those Games and will captain his country in Paris. A bronze medallist at the Youth Olympic Games in 2018, he may be among the smallest players in the squad, but his fast running and clever footwork mean he is always a threat to opponents.

Ireland v Japan – Head-To-Head Statistics:

World Series Matches: 11; Ireland Won: 10; Japan Won: 1

Last Five Meetings: 2022 – Ireland 19 Japan 5, Cape Town; 2023 – Ireland 33 Japan 12, Hamilton; Japan 12 Ireland 7, Singapore; Ireland 66 Japan 0, Toulouse; Ireland 40 Japan 7, London

– Japan’s one and only World Series victory in this fixture came in Singapore in 2023, overturning a 7-0 half-time deficit to outscore Ireland 12-0 after the break

– Prior to that breakthrough win, Japan’s average losing margin had been 24 points across their first eight matches

– Japan have never scored more than 14 points in a World Series match against Ireland, while conceding an average of 34 points per game

– Japan have never led Ireland at half-time in a World Series match. They have been behind at the break in 10 of their 11 games, with a 14-all deadlock after the first half in Málaga in 2022 the closest they have come

– This will be the first time they have met outside the World Series since the 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong. Japan narrowly won their Bowl semi-final match, 24-22, that day

– Terry Kennedy, the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year, has scored nine tries in five games against Japan, including two braces and one hat-trick

– Olympic Games Head-to-Head: This is their first meeting

– World Series Head-to-Head in France: They first met on the World Series in Paris in 2000, one of only two previous meetings in France. Their last came in Toulouse on the 2022 Series, with Ireland recording their biggest winning margin (66 points) against any team in their history

IRELAND Squad: 1. Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC), 2. Andrew Smith (Clontarf FC/Connacht), 3. Harry McNulty (UCD RFC) (capt), 4. Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC), 5. Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC), 6. Chay Mullins (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht/IQ Rugby), 7. Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC), 8. Hugo Keenan (UCD RFC/Leinster), 9. Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC), 10. Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College), 11. Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC), 12. Niall Comerford (UCD RFC).

JAPAN Squad: 1. Taiga Ishida, 2. Kippei Ishida (capt), 3. Shotaro Tsuoka, 4. Junya Matsumoto, 5. Josua Kerevi, 6. Moeki Fukushi, 7. Kippei Taninaka, 8. Yoshihiro Noguchi, 9. Kazuma Ueda, 10. Takamasa Maruo, 11. Yu Okudaira, 12. Yoshiyuki Koga.