Kennedy and Dardis help Ireland to World bronze
By Daire Walsh
ST MARY’S College RFC star Terry Kennedy and Billy Dardis of Terenure College RFC played crucial roles for Ireland as they claimed bronze at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town last weekend.
Following a strong fifth-place finish in the 2021-22 World Series, James Topping’s charges arrived in the South African city intent on leaving an indelible impact.
Indeed, the Green Army got off to the perfect start with an emphatic 24-0 victory over Portugal in the Pre-Round of 16 on Friday morning.
Kennedy was amongst the tries in this game, while squad captain Dardis knocked over a conversion as a replacement to help the Ireland into the next phase of the competition.
A convincing 17-5 success at the expense of England followed later in this afternoon and this helped to set up a tantalising last-eight encounter with host nation South Africa on Saturday night.
Despite having to deal with a partisan home support, the Irish once again pulled out all the stops to make it past the Blitzboks on a scoreline of 24-14.
Ireland were suddenly dreaming of a spot in the World Cup final, although getting past defending champions New Zealand was always likely to prove a tall order.
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black sucker punched them with a brace of tries in the opening two minutes of their clash on Sunday, but Ireland subsequently reigned in the southern hemisphere giants with five-pointers from Jack Kelly and Andrew Smith.
McGarvey-Black completed his hat-trick to get New Zealand over the line (17-10), but there was to be solace for the Irish in the shape of a bronze-medal encounter with Australia.
In his sole start of the tournament, Dardis added the bonuses to a first-half try from Sean Cribbin. Kennedy also excelled in this game as he scored a try and displayed a brilliant piece of ingenuity in the build-up to a Harry McNulty score that ultimately propelled Ireland to a 19-14 win and a magnificent third-place finish.
Meanwhile, Lucan native Eve Higgins was also featured at the World Cup finals with the Ireland Women’s 7s.
An opening day success over Brazil preceded tough defeats at the hands of New Zealand and Fiji, but Aiden McNulty’s side dusted themselves down to secure a 26-10 victory against England in the seventh-place final on Sunday evening.