Ireland Men’s Sevens – Day Two Preview

The Ireland Men’s Sevens team are aiming to end Fiji’s reign as Olympic champions when the sides meet in tonight’s quarter-finals at the Stade de France (kick-off 9pm Irish time).

Ireland’s quarter-final berth was booked last night thanks to a 40-5 win over Japan, having earlier made a winning debut at Paris 2024 by overcoming South Africa on a 10-5 margin.

Despite first half tries from Zac Ward and Jordan Conroy, James Topping’s men were overhauled by New Zealand in a fiercely-contested Pool A decider. The 14-12 defeat means Ireland will play Pool C winners Fiji in the last-eight.

The quarter-final will be 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 TWO:

POOL A –

NEW ZEALAND 14 IRELAND 12, Stade de France – Match Centre

NEW ZEALAND Profile

Head Coach: Tomasi Cama
Captain: Dylan Collier

Olympic Record: Rio 2016 – 5th; Tokyo 2020 – Silver medallists
Paris 2024 Seeding: 1st

Paris 2024 So Far: Won 40-12 v Japan; Won 17-5 v South Africa
Paris 2024 Top Try Scorer: Ngarohi McGarvey-Black (3 tries); Top Points Scorer: Akuila Rokolisoa (20 points)

2024 SVNS Series Ranking: 3rd (Regular season)
2024 SVNS Series Titles: 2 (Hong Kong, Singapore)
2024 SVNS Series Top Try Scorer: Leroy Carter (13 tries); Top Points Scorer: Akuila Rokolisoa (122 points)

Did You Know?: New Zealand lost two matches in the pool stages at Rio 2016 and only scraped into the quarter-finals as the second-best third-placed team across the pools by one point from the USA (19 to 18 points difference).

Player To Watch: Moses Leo

One of the younger breed of players in the All Blacks Sevens squad, Leo has weighed in with a number of key tries to the New Zealand cause and is hungry for success after spending more than 18 months on the sidelines with shoulder, ankle, and knee injuries before getting his first Sevens contract.

IRELAND Profile

Head Coach: James Topping
Captain: Harry McNulty

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

Paris 2024 So Far: Won 10-5 v South Africa; Won 40-5 v Japan
Paris 2024 Top Try & Points Scorers: Terry Kennedy, Chay Mullins (2 tries, 10 points each)

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.

New Zealand v Ireland – Head-To-Head Statistics:

World Series Matches: 14; New Zealand Won: 13; Ireland Won: 1

Last Five Meetings: 2023 – New Zealand 35 Ireland 0, Toulouse; Ireland 36 New Zealand 21, Cape Town; 2024 – New Zealand 19 Ireland 14, Vancouver; New Zealand 17 Ireland 14, Singapore; New Zealand 22 Ireland 17, Madrid

– Ireland ended a 10-match losing streak against New Zealand with their first HSBC SVNS Series victory in the Cup quarter-final in Cape Town earlier this season

– Ireland led 26-0 at half-time courtesy of a Terry Kennedy hat-trick, before New Zealand bounced back to score three of the last four tries

– Since that defeat, New Zealand have won their next three clashes with Ireland by five points or less

– The team leading at half-time has won the past eight games in this fixture. Not since the 2022 Cup semi-final in Singapore has the team trailing at the break come back to win, with New Zealand overturning a two-point deficit to win by three points at full-time

– All four matches this season have seen a fast start from the winning team, scoring the opening try of the match within the first two minutes of every game

– New Zealand will look to improve their discipline after losing the combined penalty count, 18-10, across all four meetings this season

– New Zealand have squandered just one visit to the Irish 22 this season, converting 13 of their 14 entries, while Ireland have scored 13 tries from 17 visits to the red zone

– Terry Kennedy has scored the only hat-trick in this match-up on the SVNS Series circuit. He has a record of seven tries in 10 games against the All Blacks Sevens, the most of any player in this fixture

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

– World Series Head-to-Head in France: These two teams met in the Cup quarter-final in Toulouse last season, with New Zealand winning 35-0. Ireland are still chasing their first points in a match against the All Black Sevens on French soil

NEW ZEALAND Squad: 1. Scott Curry, 2. Brady Rush, 3. Tone Ng Shiu, 4. Akuila Rokolisoa, 5. Dylan Collier (capt), 6. Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, 7. Fehi Fineanganofo, 8. Andrew Knewstubb, 9. Regan Ware, 10. Tepaea Cook-Savage, 11. Moses Leo, 12. Leroy Carter.

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).

CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

FIJI (1st, Pool C) v IRELAND (2nd, Pool A), Stade France, 10pm local time/9pm Irish time – Match Centre

FIJI Profile

Head Coach: Osea Kolinisau
Captain: Jerry Tuwai

Olympic Record: Rio 2016 – Champions; Tokyo 2020 – Champions
Paris 2024 Seeding: 3rd

Paris 2024 So Far: Won 40-12 v Uruguay; Won 38-12 v USA; Won 19-12 v France
Paris 2024 Top Try Scorers: Joji Nasova, Kaminieli Rasaku (3 tries); Top Points Scorer: Iowane Teba (22 points)

2024 SVNS Series Ranking: 6th (Regular season)
2024 SVNS Series Top Try Scorer: Ponipate Loganimasi (21 tries); Top Points Scorer: Terio Veilawa (144 points)

Did You Know?: Jerry Tuwai is bidding to win a third Olympic gold medal having been part of Fiji’s history-making team in Rio – alongside new head coach Osea Kolinisau – and the side that triumphed in Tokyo.

Player To Watch: Selesitino Ravutaumada

Perhaps the most exciting name in Fiji’s squad for Paris 2024 despite having not yet made his Sevens international debut. Ravutaumada caught the eye at last year’s 15s Rugby World Cup in France and continued in the same vein in Super Rugby Pacific with the Fijian Drua, earning a nomination for the Most Valuable Player in the 2024 season.

IRELAND Profile

Head Coach: James Topping
Captain: Harry McNulty

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

Paris 2024 So Far: Won 10-5 v South Africa; Won 40-5 v Japan; Lost 14-12 v New Zealand
Paris 2024 Top Try & Points Scorers: Terry Kennedy, Chay Mullins, Zac Ward, Jordan Conroy (2 tries, 10 points each)

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.

Fiji v Ireland – Head-To-Head Statistics:

World Series Matches: 18; Fiji Won: 15; Ireland Won: 3

Last Five Meetings: 2023 – Fiji 14 Ireland 7, Cape Town; 2024 – Ireland 24 Fiji 7, Perth; Ireland 24 Fiji 19 (aet), Vancouver; Fiji 26 Ireland 19, Singapore; Fiji 26 Ireland 21 (aet), Madrid

– The teams met six times during this season’s HSBC SVNS Series with Fiji victorious on four occasions, including the last meeting in the pool stages of the SVNS Grand Final in Madrid last month

– Viwa Naduvalo scored two of Fiji’s four tries, while Joji Nasova and the returning Jerry Tuwai also got on the scoresheet. Chay Mullins, Hugo Lennox, and Jordan Conroy were Ireland’s try scorers in the defeat

– Ireland’s back-to-back victories in Perth and Vancouver were their first over Fiji since a historic 21-12 success in Singapore in 2022

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

– World Series Head-to-Head in France: Fiji have won all four previous meetings with Ireland on French soil, three of them in Paris, and the most recent, a 29-17 victory in Toulouse in 2022. That was the closest margin in France with Fiji scoring 38 points or more in the other three encounters, with 50 points at Stade Charlety in the 1999/00 Series their highest tally

FIJI Squad: 1. Joji Nasova, 2. Joseva Talacolo, 3. Jeremaia Matana, 5. Iosefo Baleiwairiki, 7. Terio Tamani Veilawa, 8. Waisea Nacuqu, 9. Jerry Tuwai (capt), 10. Iowane Teba, 11. Kaminieli Rasaku, 12. Selesitino Ravutaumada, 13. Raisuqe Josaia, 14. Filipe Sauturaga.

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).