Murphy Crowe Becomes First Irish Player To Score 200 SVNS Series Tries

2024 will go down as one of the best for Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, both personally and professionally. On Saturday she added another record to her already considerable list by becoming the first Irish player, male or female, to score 200 HSBC SVNS Series tries.

Murphy Crowe is only the third woman in World Series history to reach the 200-try mark, doing so with a second-half hat-trick against China on the opening day of the Emirates Dubai 7s. She had earlier bagged a brace during Ireland’s Pool A opener against Fiji.

The Tipperary native is following in the footsteps of New Zealand great Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, who ahieved the feat in May 2022 and retired on 256 tries, and current Black Ferns star Michaela Blyde (247), who is on leave from their set-up at present.

She also touched down during Ireland’s Cup quarter-final defeat to New Zealand, finishing the season opener with six scores which leaves her on 203 tries in 232 SVNS Series matches, and puts her level with Blyde (37 tries) as the Dubai 7s joint-top Women’s try scorer of all-time.

This year saw Murphy Crowe, a debutant in Guangzhou, China back in 2014, make history in Perth as part of the first Ireland team to win a World Series tournament, and become an Olympian as the Ireland Women made their Games debut at the Stade de France.

The 29-year-old stepped up to captain her country on both the SVNS Series and Olympic stage, and returned to 15s international rugby in the autumn as she helped Ireland to a memorable runners-up finish in WXV1.

Just two weeks ago she married her fiancé Neil, and as well as taking over the Ireland Sevens captaincy permanently from her close friend Lucy Mulhall Rock, who retired after the Olympics, the flying winger is clearly determined to keep up her hugely impressive try-scoring rate.

The recently-crowned Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Women’s Sevens Player of the Year, renowned as one of the best finishers in the game, is the first Ireland Men’s or Women’s Sevens player to break through the 1000-point barrier on the circuit.

Speaking about scoring her 200th World Series try, she said: “It’s pretty surreal, I’m not going to lie. I scored my hundredth here (in Dubai in 2021) as well. What a special moment.

“Just thank you to everyone who has helped me along my journey. A big shoutout to my husband, he’s in the crowd today with his family, and it’s a really special moment for us.

“And I wouldn’t be here without my team-mates and the coaching staff, and all who have helped me along the way.”

Murphy Crowe and her team-mates claimed sixth spot in Dubai, with the second leg of the HSBC SVNS campaign taking place in Cape Town next Saturday and Sunday. There will be six regular rounds to decide the League winners, before Los Angeles hosts the HSBC SVNS World Championship in early May.