In the Men’s Sevens contest at the Olympics, Ireland secured the sixth position after being defeated by New Zealand in the 5th-place final match, their second defeat to the Kiwis in the tournament. Despite an earlier captivating semi-final victory against America at the Stade de France, the Irish team ran low on steam when competing against the All Blacks.
Even with Chay Mullins’s last-minute try in the first half, reducing their deficit to only two points following Leroy Carter’s earlier successful hit for the All Blacks, the match was not in Ireland’s favour. New Zealand managed to get ahead comfortably with ten points as Brady Rush and Moses Leo boxed tries, the latter assisted to conversion by Andrew Knewstubb.
In the semi-final of the 5th to 8th placed match, Ireland bested the USA with 17 to 14 at the Stade de France, thanks to Terry Kennedy’s try at the added time. In another thrilling moment, Zac Ward exhibited his top Olympic performance by scoring a try in the game’s last minute. Although Mark Roche missed the return shot, Ireland were trailing 12-14 with mere seconds left.
Kennedy, Irish game-changer, did not disappoint by pulling off a superb leg drive that led USA’s Marcus Tupuola over the line, sending the US into the 7th-place final against Argentina who earlier lost 17-12 to the All Blacks.
With Hugo Lennox scoring the first try in the first 33 seconds, coupled with his own drop-kick conversion, the game’s beginning was promising for Ireland. They maintained a 7-0 lead till Aaron Cummings scored in the last second of the first half. Steve Tomasin’s conversion eventually tied the game at half-time.
Perry Baker, an American athlete, managed to turn the match around with a second effort in the latter half, facilitated by Tomasin’s successful conversion, bringing the score to 14-7. Despite tough losses to both New Zealand and Fiji, the Irish team found themselves potentially losing for the third time in a row in the competition. However, their standout players, Ward and Kennedy, played exceptionally in the closing minutes, opening up the opportunity for the team to score a victory over the All Blacks in a rematch later on that Saturday afternoon.
France, the hosts of the tournament, demonstrated their prowess by outpacing Ireland’s pool rivals, South Africa, in the first gold medal semi-finals. In front of their exuberant supporters, they clinched a decisive victory of 19-5.
They are set to challenge the formidable Fijian team in the competition’s finale, scheduled at 6.45 pm in accordance with Irish Standard Time. The Fijian team had earlier toppled Australia with a 31-7 win in the second half of their semifinal match. Fiji currently holds an impressive tournament record, with a 19-12 victory over France in Pool C, and remaining unbeaten across the Olympics. The win against Australia marked their 17th consecutive win over three Olympic Games, having previously bagged the gold medal in both Rio and Tokyo tournaments.