The Ireland rugby sevens suffered a fall from grace this weekend in the World Series, following up their victory in Perth last month with a ninth place overall finish in their most outing in Vancouver.
The side kicked off their title defence on Friday last, overcoming their first Pool A opponents, South Africa, on a scoreline of 28-7.
There, there were tries from Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe, Stacey Flood and Beibhinn Parsons, and conversions from the ever reliable Lucy Rock (nee Mulhall).
Our @Ireland7s squads for this weekend's HSBC SVNS Series action in Vancouver! 🇨🇦#Ireland7s
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 22, 2024
Come Saturday though, the tables turned, and there was a result that certainly would have come as a surprise for Allan Temple-Jones’ team.
Ireland were handed a 24-7 defeat by Brazil, who ended a 17-match losing streak with that triumph over the Girls In Green.
This could in part be attributed to the absence of injured Murphy Crowe, but with captain Rock, as well as Parsons, Flood, Eve Higgins, Aoibheann Reilly, Megan Burns and Vicky Elmes Kinlan all on the pitch, it would still have been a big shock that they couldn’t get a grasp on the game against their lower ranked competitors.
Later that day, there was a return to more familiar opposition for the Irish team, yet unfortunately for them, another loss too.
New Zealand trounced the Girls in Green, 43-5, with Ireland’s only try of the game coming from Parsons.
Once again Parsons, Flood, Higgins, Lane, Rock, Burns, and Elmes Kinlan all played, as did Reilly, Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Vikki Wall and Lucinda Kinghan who all came on as substitutes.
This saw them tie for third place in their group, but a better scoring difference for Spain (-22 as opposed to -34) meant that they would progress to the Cup quarter finals instead of Ireland.
That outcome saw Ireland fall into the lower bracket of the competition for the first time since 2021.
A 9th place semi final against Great Britain then met the team, which they won 21-7, booking a spot in the final of that vein against Japan.
Securing a 12-7 victory there, two tries from Vicky Elmes Kinlan, as well as conversions from Lucy Rock saw Ireland rugby sevens close out the competition with a win.
