Ireland Women Have Ground To Make Up After Loss To Britain

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe etched her name into the record books with a first half brace of tries, but the Ireland Women suffered a 21-12 defeat to Great Britain on their Olympic Games debut.

Murphy Crowe became the first Irish woman to score in an Olympic Rugby Sevens match, as she made it 12-7 in the Parisian sunshine with Allan Temple-Jones’ side making encouraging strides.

Despite returning captain Lucy Mulhall Rock’s best efforts, Britain got on a scoring roll after the break, with the ever-threatening Jasmine Joyce, and skipper Emma Uren, breaking through for crucial seven-pointers.

Ireland will be back in action at the Stade de France at 6pm Irish time when they play fellow Olympic newcomers, South Africa. They were beaten 34-5 by Pool B favourites Australia in their opening game.

Speaking after their long-awaited Olympic opener, Murphy Crowe said: “‘We’ve two games to make sure we do (make it through to the quarter-finals), so we’ll look forward to them.

“Not where we want to be, but we fought quite hard throughout the whole game and mentally proud of the girls to fight through that.

“Just certain times we can’t give away the ball. We’ve got to control it off the kick-off. Disappointed but also hugely proud. It’s the first Irish Women’s Sevens team to take a field at the Olympic Games so what an honour.”

Béibhinn Parsons foiled an early Meg Jones run with a well-executed turnover penalty, and the Ballinasloe native was soon speeding up into the British 22 as Ireland built through the phases to gain good ground.

Just over two minutes in, Murphy Crowe spun out of a couple of tackles to notch a classy opening try after Erin King had carried hard beforehand in the middle. Mulhall Rock missed the conversion, to the right of the posts.

Britain hit back straight from the restart, though, as Jones’s well-timed offload sent Isla Norman-Bell bursting through to score from her own 10-metre line. The impressive scrum half stayed clear of the chasing Megan Burns, and added the conversion herself.

A nicely-worked lineout, with Emily Lane and King connecting in the air, provided the platform for Ireland to hunt down a second try past the half-time hooter. Mulhall Rock fought hard to retain the ball at the back of a ruck.

Ireland’s possession play duly forced the GB defence backwards, and following a midfield scrum, Stacey Flood deftly evaded Norman-Bell’s tackle, cutting back to the right where she fed Burns who put Murphy Crowe over out wide.

A pinpoint conversion from Mulhall Rock gave her team a further boost, opening up a five-point advantage, only for Britain to respond in swift fashion again from the second half’s opening kick-off.

Heather Cowell got her hands on the restart, gaining key possession which Welsh speedster Joyce turned into a try from the left wing. She swept inside, beating attempted tackles from Burns and Eve Higgins to give Norman-Bell a simple conversion.

Back in front at 14-12, influential replacement Cowell won a second successive restart for the GB outfit, although there were question marks over whether the kick had carried the 10 metres.

They used the possession wisely, and a clever, arcing run from Uren on the drift – getting outside Ireland’s half-backs – delivered their third try. Norman-Bell’s conversion left nine points in it, midway through the closing period.

Frustratingly, Ireland lost a promising attacking position when Norman-Bell pinched turnover ball from Lane, and a high tackle from replacement Higgins, on the follow-up, gave Britain a penalty to release the pressure.

Burns had to retreat to bring down Jade Shekells inside the Irish 22, following a spritely break from Norman-Bell, and the British defence ended this first round encounter on top, keeping the girls in green out of the red zone.

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (Olympic Games – Paris 2024, Stade de France, July 28, 29, 30):

Kathy Baker (Blackrock College RFC)
Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC)
Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC/Blackrock College RFC)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)
Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)
Ashleigh Orchard (Cooke RFC)
Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC)
Lucy Mulhall Rock (Wicklow RFC) (capt)

Travelling Reserves:

Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)
Amy Larn (Athy RFC)

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Schedule – Olympic Games, Paris 2024:

Sunday, July 28 –

POOL B:

IRELAND 12 GREAT BRITAIN 21, Stade de France
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe 2; Con: Lucy Mulhall Rock
Great Britain: Tries: Isla Norman-Bell, Jasmine Joyce, Emma Uren; Cons: Isla Norman-Bell 3
HT: Ireland 12 Great Britain 7

Time Line: 3 minutes – Ireland try: Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe – 5-0; conversion: missed by Lucy Mulhall Rock – 5-0; 4 mins – Great Britain try: Isla Norman-Bell – 5-5; conversion: Isla Norman-Bell – 5-7; 7+3 mins – Ireland try: Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe – 10-7; conversion: Lucy Mulhall Rock – 12-7; Half-time – Ireland 12 Great Britain 7; 8 mins – Great Britain try: Jasmine Joyce – 12-12; conversion: Isla Norman-Bell – 12-14; 10 mins – Great Britain try: Emma Uren – 12-19; conversion: Isla Norman-Bell – 12-21; Full-time – Ireland 12 Great Britain 21

Team: Béibhinn Parsons, Stacey Flood, Erin King, Emily Lane, Lucy Mulhall Rock (capt), Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe.

Replacements used: Eve Higgins for King (half-time), King for Burns (13 mins). Not used: Ashleigh Orchard, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Alanna Fitzpatrick, Kathy Baker.

IRELAND v SOUTH AFRICA, Stade de France, kick-off 7pm local time/6pm Irish time

Monday, July 29 –

POOL B:

AUSTRALIA v IRELAND, Stade de France, kick-off 2.30pm local time/1.30pm Irish time

RANKING & QUARTER-FINAL MATCHES

Tuesday, July 30 –

RANKING, SEMI-FINAL & MEDAL MATCHES