Top-10 finish for Ireland 7s in 30-degree Paris heat as Olympic qualification countdown continues

THE IRELAND MEN’S 7s continued their preparations for their Olympic qualifiers with a 10th-place finish at the Paris 7s, which was the final leg of this season’s World Series.

Competing as an invitational side after last week’s strong showing in London, they finished this event with two wins out of three and lost out to Canada by 28-12 in the Challenge Trophy final.

Anthony Eddy’s charges were hit with the injuries heading into that decider, as Greg O’Shea, Mick McGrath, Peter Maher and Shane Daly were all ruled out after picking up knocks over the course of the weekend.

The loss of those players allowed some young talent to get their opportunity to impress.

Lansdowne winger Peter Sullivan led the Irish scoring with four tries, including a brace in the 24-12 victory over Scotland, while Leinster Academy player Jack Kelly’s finished with three including two against Australia.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Cormac Izuchukwu marked his first Ireland 7s cap with a try against Scotland.

Ireland’s final two matches in the French capital saw them operate with just a two-man bench, which left them facing a tough ask against fully-loaded Canada in the final.

They got off to a bad start after a scrappy kick-off led to a Mike Fuailefau try inside just 20 seconds. 

Hugo Lennox and Ian Fitzpatrick inspired Ireland to produce a response which led to a try from Harry McNulty.