Jordan Conroy scores Ireland's second try under pressure from Moses Leo of New Zealand ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
The quarter-final match-ups have been confirmed at the Olympic Games, following the Ireland Men’s late 14-12 defeat to New Zealand at a packed-out Stade de France.
Match Photos – New Zealand 14 Ireland Men 12
Well-taken tries from Zac Ward and Jordan Conroy gave Ireland a 12-point half-time lead in the Pool A decider, albeit that Conroy unfortunately had to hobble off soon after.
Leroy Carter cut the gap to five points for New Zealand, but Ireland were left to rue a missed opportunity when Terry Kennedy had a try ruled out from a five-metre tap penalty. In response, Andrew Knewstubb forced a relieving penalty for the top seeds.
Knewstubb went on to have a crucial say for the All Blacks Sevens. He knocked over the match-winning conversion after a late attacking surge saw Ngarohi McGarvey-Black cross from close range.
The result means James Topping’s side will play defending champions Fiji, who topped Pool C, in a mouth-watering quarter-final at 10pm local time/9pm Irish time (live on RTÉ 2/BBC iPlayer & Red Button/Eurosport 2).
Ireland lost 26-21 to Fiji after extra-time when they met in the pool stages of the HSBC SVNS Grand Final in Madrid last month. They were victorious, though, at both the Perth and Vancouver legs, triumphing 24-7 and 24-19 respectively.
It has been a tightly-contested first half across four of their six meetings this season with scores level or within the margin of a converted try.
Despite Fiji finishing sixth in the SVNS Series standings, four places behind Ireland, their form has been impressive in Paris so far with pool wins over Uruguay (40-12), the USA (38-12), and tournament hosts France (19-12).
Giving his reaction after losing out to New Zealand, Hugo Keenan said: “Yeah, we’re disappointed, definitely. We obviously came out strongly, putting in that first half performance that we were looking for.
“We just didn’t back it up, we made a few mistakes – and not taking a few crucial chances that we could have to put it to bed.
“But at the same time we’re exactly where we are, where we want to be in a quarter-final, competing for a medal. It’s a huge opportunity and we’re really excited.
“We’ll review it now. It’s a short turnaround, I suppose that’s the beauty of Sevens. You can put it behind you pretty quickly, you’re not waiting around the full week to right a few wrongs.
“So, there’s plenty of learnings, plenty of bits to improve on in that performance. We’ll definitely need to if we want to go further into the semis.
“Fiji have obviously got the experience, but the lads will take good confidence that we’ve competed against them all year, and we can compete with any team in the competition if we get our systems right, if we play to our potential and put in a performance that we know are capable of.”
Kicking off day two against the Tokyo 2020 silver medallists, Ireland were first to threaten. A Mark Roche kick from a penalty put them deep inside the opposition 22, yet the strike move off the lineout was spoiled by a Keenan knock-on, in between two defenders.
Captain Dylan Collier sparked the New Zealand attack into life with a well-executed break near the right touchline, only for Akuila Rokolisoa to make a handling error past halfway.
The table toppers’ indiscipline continued to invite Ireland forward, nonetheless, and Ward made them pay. His stop-start run, with a deceptive burst of acceleration, took him past Fehi Fineanganofo for a terrific try to the right of the posts.
Although Roche’s 30-metre conversion effort missed the target, Ireland squeezed in a second try before the interval. Ward hunted down Roche’s restart kick in impressive fashion, and a penalty advantage saw Kennedy snipe from the back of a ruck.
The Ireland playmaker cut infield and combined with a jinking Conroy who crashed over under the challenge of Moses Leo. The Tullamore man appeared to injure himself in the act of scoring and had to be replaced at the start of the second half.
Despite Roche converting to open up a 12-0 advantage, New Zealand fired back within seconds of the restart. Carter broke Kennedy’s initial tackle and had the pace to evade both Hugo Lennox and Ward, with Rokolisoa swiftly tagging on the extras.
Ireland responded well, with Jack Kelly bringing some good impact off the bench. He drew a high tackle from Fineanganofo, and the penalty took Topping’s men back to just outside the New Zealand 22.
They duly got within try-scoring range again thanks to a strong run from Niall Comerford. The All Blacks Sevens infringed, but Kennedy’s attempts to tap and go – he made it over the line from one of them – were called back by referee Jordan Way.
Ultimately it was New Zealand’s replacements who proved the more influential. Knewstubb’s turnover penalty, having isolated Kelly on the ground, saw them turn defence into attack.
Tepaea Cook-Savage gobbled up the metres and Ireland were suddenly missing tackles, pulling them back into their own 22. McGarvey-Black made it over from a close-in ruck inside the final minute, and a coolly-struck Knewstubb conversion split the posts.
Regaining possession from a long restart, Ireland managed to make it back up to halfway. However, New Zealand won the breakdown battle to seal a hard-fought result, which sees them paired with pool rivals South Africa in the last-eight.
Niall Comerford (UCD RFC)
Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC)
Hugo Keenan (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College RFC)
Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC)
Harry McNulty (UCD RFC) (capt)
Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC)
Chay Mullins (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht/IQ Rugby)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC)
Andrew Smith (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC)
Travelling Reserves:
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians RFC)
Bryan Mollen (UCD RFC)
Wednesday, July 24 –
POOL A:
IRELAND 10 SOUTH AFRICA 5, Stade de France
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy
South Africa: Try: Selvyn Davids
HT: Ireland 5 South Africa 0
Time Line: 7+1 minutes – Ireland try: Jordan Conroy – 5-0; conversion: missed by Mark Roche – 5-0; Half-time – Ireland 5 South Africa 0; 11 mins – South Africa yellow card: Ryan Oosthuizen; 12 mins – Ireland try: Terry Kennedy – 10-0; conversion: missed by Hugo Lennox – 10-0; 14 mins – South Africa try: Selvyn Davids – 10-5; conversion: missed by Shaun Williams – 10-5; Full-time – Ireland 10 South Africa 5
Team: Harry McNulty (capt), Niall Comerford, Zac Ward, Mark Roche, Hugo Keenan, Terry Kennedy, Jordan Conroy.
Replacements used: Hugo Lennox for Roche (half-time), Jack Kelly for Ward (8 minutes), Gavin Mullin for Keenan (10), Andrew Smith for Comerford (11), Chay Mullins for Kennedy (14).
IRELAND 40 JAPAN 5, Stade de France
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Terry Kennedy, Chay Mullins 2, Harry McNulty, Niall Comerford, Zac Ward; Cons: Hugo Lennox 3, Mark Roche 2
Japan: Try: Shotaru Tsuoka
HT: Ireland 14 Japan 0
Time Line: 1 minutes – Ireland try: Terry Kennedy – 5-0; conversion: Hugo Lennox – 7-0; 7+1 mins – Ireland try: Chay Mullins – 12-0; conversion: Hugo Lennox – 14-0; Half-time – Ireland 14 Japan 0; 8 mins – Ireland try: Harry McNulty – 19-0; conversion: Hugo Lennox – 21-0; 10 mins – Ireland try: Niall Comerford – 26-0; conversion: missed by Hugo Lennox – 26-0; 12 mins – Ireland try: Chay Mullins – 31-0; conversion: Mark Roche – 33-0; 14 mins – Japan try: Shotaro Tsuoka – 33-5; conversion: missed by Yoshihiro Noguchi – 33-5; 14+1 mins – Ireland try: Chay Mullins – 38-5; conversion: Mark Roche – 40-5; Full-time – Ireland 40 Japan 5
Team: Jack Kelly, Andrew Smith, Harry McNulty (capt), Hugo Lennox, Gavin Mullin, Terry Kennedy, Chay Mullins.
Replacements used: Niall Comerford for Smith, Hugo Keenan for Kennedy (both 9 mins), Zac Ward for Kelly, Mark Roche for Lennox (both 11), Jordan Conroy for McNulty (12).
Thursday, July 25 –
POOL A:
NEW ZEALAND 14 IRELAND 12, Stade de France
Scorers: New Zealand: Tries: Leroy Carter, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black; Cons: Akuila Rokolisoa, Andrew Knewstubb
Ireland: Tries: Zac Ward, Jordan Conroy; Con: Mark Roche
HT: New Zealand 0 Ireland 12
Time Line: 6 minutes – Ireland try: Zac Ward – 5-0; conversion: Mark Roche – 5-0; 7 mins – Ireland try: Jordan Conroy – 12-0; conversion: missed by Mark Roche – 12-0; Half-time – New Zealand 0 Ireland 12; 8 mins – New Zealand try: Leroy Carter – 5-12; conversion: Akuila Rokolisoa – 7-12; 14 mins – New Zealand try: Ngarohi McGarvey-Black – 12-12; conversion: Andrew Knewstubb – 14-12; Full-time – New Zealand 14 Ireland 12
Team: Harry McNulty (capt), Niall Comerford, Zac Ward, Mark Roche, Hugo Keenan, Terry Kennedy, Jordan Conroy.
Replacements used: Chay Mullins for Conroy, Hugo Lennox for Roche (both half-time), Jack Kelly for Ward (8 mins), Gavin Mullin for Kennedy, Andrew Smith for Comerford (both 12).
CUP QUARTER-FINAL:
FIJI (1st, Pool C) v IRELAND (2nd, Pool A), Stade de France, 10pm local time/9pm Irish time
Saturday, July 27 –
RANKING, SEMI-FINAL & MEDAL MATCHES
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