Six years after embarking on a roller-coaster journey from the bottom tier of European Sevens Rugby, Ireland Men’s Sevens have realised their Olympic Dream by securing Olympic qualification and booking their place at this summer’s Tokyo Games courtesy of a 28-19 victory at the final Qualifying tournament in Monaco.

Anthony Eddy‘s side created history on a magical evening for Irish Rugby at the Stade Louis II with victory over France in the final of the World Rugby Sevens Repechage, as they secured the 12th and final place in the Men’s Sevens competition in Tokyo. The team had to do it the hard way, after trailing 12-7 at the half-time break.

It is yet another indelible moment for this squad under the tutelage of IRFU Director of Sevens and Women’s Rugby Eddy, with the Ireland Men’s Sevens now set to become the first Irish Rugby team to compete at the Olympics, in what will be the second staging of the Sevens competition following its introduction in Rio 2016.

For the core of the squad – captain Billy Dardis, Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy, Harry McNulty, Foster Horan, Ian Fitzpatrick, Mark Roche and Bryan Mollen – qualification for sport’s showpiece event is the culmination of six years of hard work, and a major moment for the National Sevens programme.

The Olympic Men’s Rugby Sevens competition will take place from 26-28 July, with all the action taking place at Tokyo Stadium, which hosted the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019.

Source: Irish Rugby