The Ireland Women's Sevens squad and management staff are pictured together following their final match at the Olympic Games in Paris ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Two yellow cards proved costly for the Ireland Women’s Sevens team as they lost 28-12 to Great Britain in the 7th place play-off at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Britain’s Meg Jones and Heather Cowell crossed for tries while Stacey Flood and Erin King were in the sin bin on separate occasions. That left Ireland trailing 28-5, early in the second half.
Claire Boles, a travelling reserve, marked her Olympic debut with a late consolation score to add to Megan Burns’ earlier effort, as Allan Temple-Jones’ charges closed out the three-day tournament in eighth place.
Eve Higgins, Flood, Erin King, and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe led the way for Ireland across an injury-disrupted campaign. Captain Lucy Mulhall Rock and Béibhinn Parsons, another impressive performer, were unfortunately sidelined at key stages.
Bandaged and bloodied but unbowed throughout the team’s last outing at the Stade de France, the brilliantly consistent Flood played almost every minute for her country, as did the tireless Emily Lane who put in a huge shift at scrum half.
Flood laid down an early marker by tackling Jasmine Joyce into touch from Higgins’ well-placed kick-off. Burns also had a good carry off the resulting scrum, but a knock-on halted Ireland’s progress.
The subsequent loss of Flood to the bin was a big setback, with the Dubliner clashing heads with Ellie Boatman as the British winger made a carry. Jones then sliced through a gap for the opening try, which she converted herself.
Higgins drew a penalty for Ireland to eat into Flood’s sin bin period, and a bulldozing charge from King required a tackle from Lauren Torley to stop her from scoring. The girls in green opened their account off a subsequent scrum, five minutes in.
Flood had returned to the pitch by the time stand-in captain Murphy Crowe’s speedy burst had sucked in the defence, and Lane passed to her left where Burns held off Isla Norman-Bell to cross the whitewash.
Frustratingly, those five points were cancelled out almost straight from the restart. Joyce spotted an opening down the short side of a ruck, releasing Jade Shekells to dart clear and dot down. Skipper Emma Uren added the extras for a 14-5 scoreline.
It got even better for Britain past the half-time hooter, as a dummying Jones nipped past Murphy Crowe to go in under the posts. Referee Tyler Miller promptly sin-binned King for kicking the ball away after the try had been scored.
With a 21-5 deficit to overcome, Flood retrieved her own kick to get Ireland moving in the right direction early in the second half. Higgins also added impetus to the attack.
However, Joyce’s penalty win at the breakdown, coupled with a timely assist from Jones, led to Cowell surging clear to score from her own half. Norman-Bell’s conversion widened the margin to 27 points.
Lifted powerfully by the returning King, Lane acrobatically took down the restart, and it was then Ireland’s turn to have a numerical advantage. Jones saw yellow for a high tackle on Higgins, and King was just a pass away from putting Boles over at the end of some decent attacking phases.
Britain regained field position with a kick downfield from Lisa Thomson, only for Ellie Kildunne’s knock-on in a tackle on Alanna Fitzpatrick to earn her a yellow with just 90 seconds remaining.
Flood and Kathy Baker attacked both wings to good effect, and off a ruck in front of the GB posts, Burns came around to the left and floated a pinpoint pass out for Boles to score. Flood’s conversion was the final scoring act.
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)
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 19 IRELAND 14, Stade de France
Scorers: Australia: Tries: Faith Nathan, Teagan Levi, Maddison Levi; Cons: Teagan Levi, Tia Hinds
Ireland: Tries: Eve Higgins 2; Cons: Eve Higgins 2
HT: Australia 12 Ireland 7
Time Line: 1 minute – Australia try: Faith Nathan – 5-0; conversion: Teagan Levi – 7-0; 6 mins – Ireland try: Eve Higgins – 7-5; conversion: Eve Higgins – 7-7; 7+1 mins – Australia try: Teagan Levi – 12-7; conversion: missed by Teagan Levi; Half-time – Australia 12 Ireland 7; 9 mins – Australia try: Maddison Levi – 17-7; conversion: Tia Hinds – 19-7; 12 mins – Australia yellow card: Tia Hinds; 14 mins – Ireland try: Eve Higgins – 19-12; conversion: Eve Higgins – 19-14; Full-time – Australia 19 Ireland 14
Team: Béibhinn Parsons, Erin King, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane, Stacey Flood, Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (capt).
Replacements used: Kathy Baker for Burns (10 mins). Not used: Ashleigh Orchard, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Alanna Fitzpatrick, Amy Larn.
QUARTER-FINAL:
AUSTRALIA 40 IRELAND 7, Stade de France
Scorers: Australia: Tries: Maddison Levi 3, Faith Nathan, Isabella Nasser, Bienne Terita; Cons: Tia Hinds 4, Dominique du Toit
Ireland: Try: Stacey Flood; Con: Eve Higgins
HT: Australia 26 Ireland 0
Time Line: 1 minute – Australia try: Maddison Levi – 5-0; conversion: missed by Tia Hinds – 5-0; 4 mins – Australia try: Maddison Levi – 10-0; conversion: Tia Hinds – 12-0; 6 mins – Australia try: Maddison Levi – 17-0; conversion: Tia Hinds – 19-0; 7 mins – Australia try: Faith Nathan – 24-0; conversion: Tia Hinds – 26-0; Half-time – Australia 26 Ireland 0; 9 mins – Australia try: Isabella Nasser – 31-0; conversion: Tia Hinds – 33-0; 12 mins – Ireland try: Stacey Flood – 33-5; conversion: Eve Higgins – 33-7; 14 mins – Australia try: Bienne Terita – 38-7; conversion: Dominique du Toit – 40-7; Full-time – Australia 40 Ireland 7
Team: Béibhinn Parsons, Erin King, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane, Stacey Flood, Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (capt).
Replacements used: Vicky Elmes Kinlan for Parsons (8 mins), Kathy Baker for Burns (10), Amy Larn for Murphy Crowe, Ashleigh Orchard for King (both 13). Not used: Alanna Fitzpatrick.
Tuesday, July 30 –
5TH PLACE SEMI-FINAL:
FRANCE 19 IRELAND 7, Stade de France
Scorers: France: Tries: Séraphine Okemba 2, Carla Neisen; Cons: Caroline Drouin 2
Ireland: Try: Eve Higgins; Con: Eve Higgins
HT: France 0 Ireland 7
Time Line: 6 minutes – Ireland try: Eve Higgins – 0-5; conversion: Eve Higgins – 0-7; Half-time – France 0 Ireland 7; 9 mins – France try: Séraphine Okemba – 5-7; conversion: Caroline Drouin – 7-7; 11 mins – France try: Carla Neisen – 12-7; conversion: Caroline Drouin – 14-7; 14 mins – France try: Séraphine Okemba – 19-7; conversion: missed by Yolaine Yengo – 19-7; Full-time – France 19 Ireland 7
Team: Erin King, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane, Stacey Flood, Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (capt).
Replacements used: Kathy Baker for Elmes Kinlan (10 mins). Not used: Ashleigh Orchard, Alanna Fitzpatrick, Claire Boles, Amy Larn.
7TH PLACE PLAY-OFF:
GREAT BRITAIN 28 IRELAND 12, Stade de France
Scorers: Great Britain: Tries: Meg Jones 2, Jade Shekells, Heather Cowell; Cons: Meg Jones, Emma Uren 2, Isla Norman-Bell
Ireland: Tries: Megan Burns, Claire Boles; Con: Stacey Flood
HT: Great Britain 21 Ireland 5
Time Line: 2 minutes – Ireland yellow card: Stacey Flood; 3 mins – Great Britain try: Meg Jones – 5-0; conversion: Meg Jones – 7-0; 5 mins – Ireland try: Megan Burns – 7-5; conversion: missed by Eve Higgins – 7-5; 7 mins – Great Britain try: Jade Shekells – 12-5; conversion: Emma Uren – 14-5; 7+2 mins – Great Britain try: Meg Jones – 19-5; conversion: Isla Norman-Bell – 21-5; 7+2 mins – Ireland yellow card: Erin King; Half-time – Great Britain 21 Ireland 5; 9 mins – Great Britain try: Heather Cowell – 26-5; conversion: Emma Uren – 28-5; 10 mins – Great Britain yellow card: Meg Jones; 13 mins – Great Britain yellow card: Ellie Kildunne; 14 mins – Ireland try: Claire Boles – 28-10; conversion: Stacey Flood – 28-12; Full-time – Great Britain 28 Ireland 12
Team: Erin King, Ashleigh Orchard, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane, Stacey Flood, Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (capt).
Replacements used: Claire Boles for Orchard (half-time), Vicky Elmes Kinlan for Murphy Crowe (9 mins), Kathy Baker for Lane (12), Alanna Fitzpatrick for King (13), Amy Larn for Higgins (14+1).
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