Eddy reveals Sevens World Cup squads
Rugby
Daire Walsh
IRFU Director of Sevens Rugby Anthony Eddy admitted last night the Ireland men’s and women’s squad will be left with very little room for error at the forthcoming Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco.
The women’s side get their tournament underway with a Round of 16 encounter against England on July 20, before their male counterparts face Chile in a Pre-Round of 16 fixture later on the same day.
With a knockout format in operation, Eddy believes it will be difficult for an outsider to upset the odds.
“It probably makes it harder, because you can always have one poor game. The way sevens is, sometimes it could be a bounce of a ball or a restart that can win or lose you a game,” Eddy explained at the squad announcements yesterday.
The 12-strong women’s selection for the World Cup features the Munster quartet of Aoife Doyle, Louise Galvin, Aimee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, while the province is represented on the men’s side by Shane Daly and Greg O’Shea.
“On the back of what the girls have done in recent times, as well as what the boys have done in this short period, the game is in a pretty good position,” said Eddy.
“The U18 girls have just won a Home Nations tournament last weekend, so the development programmes are in a good position. We’ve just got to continue to grow the numbers.”
Ireland Men’s 7s squad: R Baloucoune (Enniskillen & Ballymena/Ulster), J Conroy (Buccaneers RFC), S Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster), B Dardis (UCD), I Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne), F Horan (Lansdowne), H Keenan (UCD), T Kennedy (St Mary’s College), H McNulty (UCD), B Mollen (DUFC), Jimmy O’Brien (UCD), J O’Donnell (Lansdowne), G O’Shea (Shannon).
Ireland Women’s 7s squad: K Baker (Blackrock College/Leinster), A Baxter (Cooke/Ulster), C Boles (Railway Union/Ulster), A Doyle (Shannon & Railway Union/Munster), K Fitzhenry (Blackrock College/Leinster), S Flood (Railway Union/Leinster), L Galvin (UL Bohemian/Munster), E Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster), L Mulhall (Rathdrum), AL Murphy Crowe (Railway Union/Munster), D Nic a Bhaird (UL Bohemian/Munster), A O’Flynn (Ireland Women’s 7s Programme), H Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster).