IRELAND WOMEN
Ireland's Women came up just short in the final against an excellent Spanish side in a hot and humid Lisbon this evening but can take consolation from some excellent performances and a place in the World Olympic Repechage.
Next up for the girls in green is the Women's Sevens Dublin in August and a shot at World Series qualification.
Captain Lucy Mulhall lead from the front all day and notched up Ireland's first try just a minute into the final, breaking free from a tackle to score under the posts. The skipper added the conversion to give the girls in green an early lead.
A minute later Grand Slam winner Jenny Murphy showed her power and pace to burst through two tackles and power over the line. Mulhall again added the extras and Ireland were 14-0 up.
Spain fought back and a period of sustained possesion saw them put their flying winger free to score in the corner making it 14-5 at half time.
The conditions took their toll in the second half as an experienced Spain applied more pressure to score early. A monster conversion from the touch line gave them a real boost and left them just two points adrift of Ireland.
Working the ball up the pitch, with Mulhall pulling the strings and Claire Keohane showing well Ireland hit back and put Ashleigh Baxter through a gap to touch down despite a heavy tackle. Mulhall was narrownly wide with the conversion.
Spain struck again, however, as the match entered the final minutes and drew level on 19 points apiece. From a poor kick off they attacked again and ran in another score as the hooter sounded to leave Ireland disappointed with the final result but with the consolation of a place in the World Olympic Repechage.
Ireland opened today's knockout stages with a comprehensive 40-0 victory over Germany, with UL Bohemians' Louise Galvin helping herself to a hat-trick of tries.
A neat line of passing started by Claire Molloy at a ruck led to Galvin's opener which saw her evade a tackle and step in off her right to score underneath the posts.
After captain Lucy Mulhall converted and a promising break from the heavily-involved Hannah Tyrrell, Ireland soon made it 12-0. A superb leg-pumping run from Jenny Murphy got them into scoring range and Molloy outfoxed the German defence with an injection of pace and clever stepping.
The girls in green moved 19-0 clear for the interval as a well-timed pass from Claire Keohane put Galvin into space and she went past the covering defender near the left touchline to canter over.
The scores kept coming in the second half, good ball presentation from Tyrrell and Audrey O'Flynn allowing Ireland to build pressure from deep and Galvin, running clear from her own half, completed her hat-trick in fine style.
Mulhall converted and there was two more seven-pointers before the finish. Stacey Flood, O'Flynn and Eimear Considine all got on the ball before Molloy showed her class again, drawing in a tackler and offloading to her right for Alison Miller to score from close range.
Flood split the posts with the conversion and did so once more after Tyrrell's inviting pass put Miller sprinting clear on the left to complete her brace.
Two tries apiece from Galvin and Miller saw Ireland get the better of hosts Portugal in a semi-final clash that had added significance - the winners guaranteed their place in the global Olympic Repechage next year.
The Irish went up through the gears in the second half to kill of the Portuguese challenge and run out 28-5 winners. Stubborn defence kept the likes of Murphy and Mulhall from making progress in the hosts' 22.
Ireland were stung by an unconverted try at the other end, as three missed tackles proved costly, but Galvin stepped up to the plate with an excellent angle and turn of pace to score from inside her own half. Mulhall's conversion made it 7-5 for half-time.
The girls in green kept their foot on the gas when running in three more tries in the second period. Miller struck with a trademark try, running around the outside of the defence from far out. Ashleigh Baxter went close before repeated ruck infringements led to a Portuguese yellow card and then Miller quickly nipped in between two defenders to score.
Mulhall converted and also added the extras to Galvin's second effort from in front of the posts. She went over unopposed after linking up with Murphy who had brilliantly taken down Mulhall's restart kick.
IRELAND WOMEN'S SQUAD
Audrey O'Flynn (TID)
Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Eimear Considine (TID)
Ashleigh Baxter (Cooke/Ulster)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster)
Claire Keohane (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Lucy Mulhall (Rathdrum) (capt)
Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht)
Louise Galvin (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Alison Miller (Portlaoise/Connacht)
Emma Murphy (Railway Union/Leinster)
IRELAND WOMEN'S FIXTURES & RESULTS
Saturday: Pool B -
Ireland 52 Romania 0
Scorers: Tries: Alison Miller 5, Ashleigh Baxter, Jenny Murphy, Claire Keohane; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 5, Claire Keohane
Ireland 24 Belgium 5
Scorers: Tries: Louise Galvin, Stacey Flood, Lucy Mulhall, Jenny Murphy; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 2
Ireland 50 Ukraine 0
Scorers: Tries: Ireland: Claire Keohane 2, Alison Miller 4, Jenny Murphy, Hannah Tyrrell; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 5
Sunday: Cup Quarter-Final
Ireland 40 Germany 0
Scorers: Tries: Louise Galvin 3, Claire Molloy, Alison Miller 2; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 3, Stacey Flood 2
Cup Semi-Final
Ireland 28 Portugal 5
Scorers: Tries: Louise Galvin 2, Alison Miller 2; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 4
Cup Final
Ireland 19 Spain 26
Scorers: Tries: Lucy Mulhall, Jenny Murphy, Ashleigh Baxter; Cons: Lucy Mulhall 2
IRELAND MEN
Ireland's Men qualified for the World Olympic Repechage thanks to a third place finish at the Rugby Europe Sevens tournament in Lisbon today.
Ireland's kick offs proved crucial as they won the 3rd place playoff and with it a place at the World Olympic Repechage beating Georgia by 15-7.
The opening score came from Ian Fitzpatrick after some excellent hands from Aaron Cairns, industrious all day, a minute into the game.
Gearoid Lyons, captain in the absence of the injured Tom Daly, missed the difficlut conversion but his hanging re-starts provided the perfect platform for his team to attack. The chasers had time to put pressure on Georgia and knock the ball back and retain possesion.
Harry McNulty pounced on the ball as it squirted free from the ensuing ruck and ran in for Ireland's second try to make it 10-0.
The kick off again proved fruitful for Ireland as Georgia failed to cope with the high ball and Ireland worked the ball up the pitch. Terry Kennedy scampered through the breakdown to give Ireland their third try.
A late first half surge from Georgia was snuffed out as Adam Byrne put in a try saving tackle to hold his man up over the line.
The second half saw Georgia come out fighting and with both sides reduced to six men from yellow cards Ireland's work rate was impressive throughout.
Georgia scored the only points of the 2nd half but Ireland covered well to take the game 15-7 and many of the plaudits from their toughest tournament to date.
Earlier in the day Ireland saw off Lithuania in the quarters but lost to Russia in the semi final.
Ireland battled their way past Lithuania in a tight and tense quarter-final tie, with a last-minute try from Mark Roche sealing a 17-0 result for the men in green.
The Irish outfit struggled to get out of their 22 early on, and were fortunate when Lithuania knocked on out wide while Aaron Cairns was down receiving treatment.
Back on his feet, Cairns then broke up the left wing and while his pass back inside hacked on by Gearoid Lyons, the ball beat everyone for a Lithuanian lineout five metres out. However, the subsequent lineout went loose and Harry McNulty managed to reach out and get the touchdown ahead of a covering player.
5-0 is how it stayed up to half-time and Ireland, looking the more threatening as Alex Wootton and Adam Byrne increased their influence in attack, missed a chance to add to their lead when Lyons knocked on following a half-break.
Nonetheless, they gradually ground the Lithuanians down. Good work from McNulty and Lyons, who wisely attacked the short side, set the wheels in motion for Byrne to go over in the left corner.
Ireland had to weather a good spell of Lithuanian pressure before Shane Layden's kick downfield bounced favourably for the onrushing Roche to sprint clear from halfway and claim the clinching seven-pointer.
Meeting top-seeded Russia for the second time this weekend, Ireland gave another very good account of themselves against more experienced opponents, going down 24-10 in a well-contested semi-final.
An offload that might have been called forward on another day led to the Russians taking a 5-0 lead, but Ireland managed to level before the break. Aggressive Irish defending, combined with a powerful carry from Wootton, got them into scoring range and space was created on the left for Byrne to stretch over in the corner.
Disciplined defence kept the Russians out approaching half-time, and Ireland edged ahead early in the second half with another unconverted effort. Brilliant support play and running from Cairns and then Fitzpatrick forced Russia backwards and having done to build through the phases, possession was worked wide to the right where Fitzpatrick finished smartly.
Lyons was unable to convert and that was to be the end of Ireland's scoring. They were caught flat by a Russian kick which resulted in a try and a 10-10 scoreline. Byrne threatened shortly afterwards but ran out of room, and the result was sealed by two more Russian tries as the Irish challenge petered out.
IRELAND MEN'S SQUAD
Adam Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
Aaron Cairns (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Shane Layden (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Gearoid Lyons (Young Munster/Munster)
Diarmaid McCarthy (Young Munster/Munster)
David McGuigan (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Harry McNulty (UCD/Leinster)
Matthew O'Regan (Exiles)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Alex Wootton (Garryowen/Munster)
Steve Toal-Lennon (St Mary's College/Leinster)
IRELAND MEN'S FIXTURES & RESULTS
Saturday: Pool A
Russia 19 Ireland 19
Scorers: Tries: Steve Toal-Lennon, Shane Layden, Harry McNulty; Cons: Steve Toal-Lennon, Gearoid Lyons
Georgia 17 Ireland 21
Scorers: Tries: Alex Wootton, Ian Fitzpatrick, Aaron Cairns; Cons: Gearoid Lyons 3
Italy 15 Ireland 33
Scorers: Tries: Alex Wootton 2, Adam Byrne, Aaron Cairns, Terry Kennedy; Cons: Gearoid Lyons 4
Sunday: Cup Quarter-Final
Ireland 17 Lithuania 0
Scorers: Tries: Harry McNulty, Adam Byrne, Mark Roche; Con: Gearoid Lyons
Cup Semi-Final
Russia 24 Ireland 10
Scorers: Tries: Adam Byrne, Ian Fitzpatrick
3rd/4th Place Play-Off
Ireland 15 v Georgia 7
Scorers: Tries: Ian Fitzpatrick, Harry McNulty, Terry Kennedy