Men’s Sevens 5th-place final: New Zealand 17 Ireland 7
Ireland finished sixth in the men’s Sevens tournament at the Olympic Games as New Zealand beat them for the second time in the tournament to seal fifth spot in the placing final.
Having won a thrilling semi-final clash against the United States earlier in the afternoon at the Stade de France, Ireland looked a little short on gas against the All Blacks.
Chay Mullins’s try in added time at the end of the first half saw Ireland turn just two points down after Leroy Carter’s earlier converted effort for the All Blacks. But tries from Brady Rush and Moses Leo, the latter converted by Andrew Knewstubb, saw New Zealand home to a comfortable 10-point win.
Men’s Sevens 5th-8th placing semi-final: Ireland 17 USA 14
Terry Kennedy’s try deep in added time helped Ireland secure a come-from-behind victory over the USA at the Stade de France set up a 5th-place final against New Zealand.
It was the second of two late tries from Ireland as Zac Ward continued his fine Olympic Games showing with a try in the final minute of the game. Mark Roche missed the conversion to that score, meaning Ireland still trailed 12-14 with just seconds left on the clock.
But Irish game-breaker Kennedy lived up to his billing by dragging USA’s Marcus Tupuola over the line with a great leg drive to send the US into the 7th-place final with Argentina, who lost 17-12 to All Blacks.
Ireland got off to a great start against the US with Hugo Lennox getting over for their first try after 33 seconds, adding the drop-kick conversion himself to put Ireland 7-0 to the good.
Ireland kept the US out until the last second of the first half when Aaron Cummings got over, with Steve Tomasin adding the conversion to level matters up at half-time.
US star Perry Baker then put his side ahead with their second try halfway through the second half, with Tomasin again converting to make it 14-7.
Ireland were left facing a third straight defeat in the competition after the tough loses to New Zealand and Fiji, but their two standout players of the tournament Ward and Kennedy rescued things in a frantic finale to set up a chance at a potential revenge victory over the All Blacks later on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, hosts France proved too strong for Ireland’s pool opponents South Africa in the first of the gold medal semi-finals, running out 19-5 winners in front of a raucous home crowd.
They will now face the mighty Fiji in the final at 6.45pm Irish time after the double Olympic champions tore Australia apart in the second half of their semi-final to win 31-7. Fiji have already beaten France in the tournament, taking the Pool C meeting 19-12.
Fiji remain unbeaten in Olympic Games, the win over Australia being their 17th straight over three Games, having won gold in both Rio and Tokyo.
