Parsons Doubles Up As Ireland Women Claim First Olympic Win

Bouncing back from an earlier 21-12 defeat to Great Britain, the Ireland Women registered their first victory at an Olympic Games, hitting form in attack with five second half scores.

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe chipped in with her third try of the tournament already, while Stacey Flood and replacements Eve Higgins and Vicky Elmes Kinlan also crossed the whitewash after a 7-0 half-time lead had been established.

Worryingly though, Ireland captain Lucy Mulhall Rock hobbled off with an injury before the break. Her right leg was already heavily strapped, and she made a tearful exit from the pitch as she came off to a big ovation from the crowd.

Allan Temple-Jones’ charges conclude the pool stages tomorrow with a crunch clash with Australia, the tournament’s second seeds (kick-off 1.30pm Irish time – live on RTÉ 2/RTÉ Player/BBC iPlayer & Red Button/Eurosport via Discovery Plus).

Australia are currently top of the table on six points, two clear of Britain (-22) and Ireland (+29) who both have four.

All twelve of Ireland’s squad members were involved in the game against South Africa, with Elmes Kinlan, Kathy Baker, Ashleigh Orchard, and teenager Alanna Fitzpatrick sprung from the bench for their Olympic debuts.

Giving her reaction afterwards, the 22-year-old Parsons said: “This team has a lot of resilience and we just wanted to show the bounceback and the ‘fighting Irish’ spirit that we know we have.

“We’re just glad that we were able to show that in our performance. Obviously we didn’t get off to the best start against GB, but that’s our story and we have to live with that. So, we’ll move on and hopefully have many more performances just like that.

“We’re really proud of that performance (against South Africa), we’re going to rest up now and get ready for Australia tomorrow. We know there’s so much more in us and that we can beat anyone on our day.

“We really want to do Ireland proud. We left the Olympic Village this morning not as Olympians, and we’ll walk back this evening as Olympians. That’s really special, but we can’t get caught up in all the emotions (of it).

“We’ll have plenty of time when all is said and done, so right now we’re just in tournament mode and we just want to put our best foot forward.”

Fielding the same starting line-up from their Olympic opener, it took some time for Ireland to make the breakthrough against the Springbok Women’s Sevens. As she did against Britain, Parsons forced an early penalty at the breakdown.

South Africa were patient in their build-up, trying to get the tricky Nadine Roos on the ball. They had a decent platform off a penalty, five minutes in, but Maria Tshiremba knocked on under pressure from Mulhall Rock.

Erin King swiftly turned defence into attack, gobbling up the loose ball to raid downfield. She timed her pass perfectly to allow Parsons to finish off from 40 metres out, with her skipper knocking over the conversion.

However, Mulhall Rock soon had to be replaced as she appeared to injure her knee under a tackle from Sizophila Solontsi. It was cruel luck for the Tinahely woman, who had worked her way back from hamstring problems to lead the team in Paris.

A late attacking spurt almost delivered a second Irish try before the interval. Flood put boot to ball, her kick out to the right bouncing up for Murphy Crowe to collect but, tiptoeing close to the touchline, she was unable to stay in play.

The best was still to come from Ireland, and their lead was doubled after Emily Lane had taken down the restart and lifted the tempo in attack. Murphy Crowe threatened twice, the second time breaking free via a Megan Burns offload to make it 14-0.

With a nice rhythm to their attacking phases now, and with Lane and Higgins directing play, Flood darted through a gap, using a hand-off to brush off Mathrin Simmers and stretch the lead. The Dubliner added her second conversion too.

Parsons completed her brace by skipping in between two defenders in the 12th minute, profiting from Lane’s inviting pass. Flood’s left boot made it 28-0 before she made her way to the bench.

Baker showed her breakdown skills before the lively Lane went quickly from another penalty. Wicklow youngsters King and Elmes Kinlan then combined on the left, with the latter showing a clean pair of heels to Zintle Mpupha as she pushed the margin out t0 33 points.

There was still enough time for Orchard to retrieve the restart, and Higgins squeezed in an excellent solo effort from halfway. She stepped inside two defenders and accelerated clear to go over to the left of the posts.

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 38 SOUTH AFRICA 0, Stade de France
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Béibhinn Parsons 2, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Stacey Flood, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Eve Higgins; Cons: Lucy Mulhall Rock, Stacey Flood 3
South Africa: –
HT: Ireland 7 South Africa 0

Time Line: 6 minutes – Ireland try: Béibhinn Parsons – 5-0; conversion: Lucy Mulhall Rock – 7-0; Half-time – Ireland 7 South Africa 0; 8 mins – Ireland try: Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe – 12-0; conversion: Stacey Flood – 14-0; 10 mins – Ireland try: Stacey Flood – 19-0; conversion: Stacey Flood – 21-0; 12 mins – Ireland try: Béibhinn Parsons – 26-0; conversion: Stacey Flood – 28-0; 14 mins – Ireland try: Vicky Elmes Kinlan – 33-0; conversion: missed by Eve Higgins – 33-0; 14+1 mins – Ireland try: Eve Higgins – 38-0; conversion: missed by Eve Higgins – 38-0; Full-time – Ireland 38 South Africa 0

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

Replacements used: Eve Higgins for Mulhall Rock (7 mins), Vicky Elmes Kinlan for Parsons, Kathy Baker for Flood (both 12), Ashleigh Orchard for King, Alanna Fitzpatrick for Murphy Crowe (both 14).

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