Ireland Sevens Audio: Ian Keatley
The Ireland Sevens squad are in Hannover, Germany this weekend as they attempt to qualify for next year’s Sevens World Cup. IrishRugby.ie caught up with Ian Keatley, one of the youngest members of the squad, at their training base in Dublin to get his thoughts on the tournament, the squad’s preparations and also his move to Connacht.
The Ireland Sevens squad, sponsored by Independent News and Media, are competing this Saturday and Sunday at the final European Sevens qualifying tournament in Hannover.
The event will see five teams qualify for the Sevens World Cup. 12 teams will be competing at Hannover’s AWD-Arena.
Ireland are in Pool B alongside Wales, Italy, Ukraine, Poland and Belgium. Top seeds Portugal are in Pool A with Spain, Russia, Romania, Georgia and host country Germany.
Ireland will open the tournament with a game against the Ukraine at 12pm on Saturday. Next up is a crucial encounter with second seeds Wales at 3.10pm followed by the game against Italy at 5.40pm and a clash with Belgium at 7.30pm.
On Sunday, Ireland will play their final pool game against Poland at 9.50am (all times local).
The top two sides in each pool will go through to the Cup semi-finals and Ireland will be hoping to be in this section.
Ian Keatley, who is back on international duty after playing at last month’s Churchill Cup, took time out from this week’s training camp in Dublin to talk with journalist Coilin Duffy for IrishRugby.ie.
Click here to listen to the interview in full.
Click here to go to the Hannover Sevens website.
Click here for Ireland Sevens squad profiles.