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Billy Dardis will once again captain Ireland when the World Rugby Sevens repechage kicks off at the Stade Louis II in Monaco next weekend, June 19th and 20th, as they and nine other countries vie for the 12th and last place at this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The IRFU director of Sevens and Women's rugby, Anthony Eddy has selected an experienced group to travel to Monaco, with a dozen of the 14-man squad having featured on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series previously for Ireland, with the uncapped duo Gavin Mullin and Ulster flyer Aaron Sexton completing the panel.
Harry McNulty, who has played 48 world series matches, has returned to the squad and features alongside last season's world series top try-scorer Jordan Conroy, with the likes of Foster Horan, Ian Fitzpatrick, Terry Kennedy and Dardis bringing a wealth of experience to the group.
The 10 contestants in next weekend’s repechage have been divided into two groups of five, with the top two from each advancing to the semi-finals. Ireland will start their campaign against Zimbabwe on Saturday before facing Mexico and Tonga in further Pool A games that day. Ireland will conclude the Pool stages on Sunday, June 20th against Samoa.
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The other group features France, Hong Kong, Chile, Jamaica and Uganda. The final, with a ticket to Tokyo on the line, will take place at 7.07pm local time/6.07pm Irish time on Sunday, June 20th.
“I am really happy with the squad, and I must admit there were some really tough decisions as the competition within the squad has been at an all-time high in recent weeks,” said Eddy.
“A number of players have been preparing for this tournament and opportunity for a number of years and they all know exactly what is at stake. I know they will be determined to be at their best and put in a performance over the weekend that they can be proud of. All the teams participating are chasing the same outcome so we must be at our best and we are looking forward to it.”
Ireland Sevens squad
Jack Kelly (Dublin University)
Harry McNulty (LA Giltinis)
Foster Horan (Lansdowne)
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne)
Adam Leavy (Lansdowne)
Billy Dardis (Terenure College)
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians)
Hugo Lennox (Skerries)
Gavin Mullin (UCD)
Terry Kennedy (St Mary’s College)
Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers)
Aaron Sexton (Malone/Ulster)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne)
Bryan Mollen (Blackrock College).
Schedule
Saturday, June 19th
Ireland v Zimbabwe, 9.50am local time/8.5am Irish time
Ireland v Mexico, 12.12pm local time/11.12am Irish time
Ireland v Tonga, 3.24pm local time/2.24pm Irish time
Sunday, June 20th
Ireland v Samoa, 1.17pm local time/12.17pm Irish time.
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