Ireland Women Bag Bronze At European Sevens Opener In Algarve

An unanswered run of tries from Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Béibhinn Parsons and Clare Gorman saw them get the better of Poland, winning the Bronze final on a 20-7 scoreline.

Their fourth victory of the weekend saw them end the opening leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series on a positive note. Parsons accumulated eight tries, while new cap Gorman contributed three.

With captain Lucy Mulhall and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe both rested, coach Allan Temple-Jones tested out some combinations, handed Stacey Flood the captaincy role, and gave valuable game-time to some of the squad’s younger players.

Speaking after the Poland game, Flood said: “It’s good to finish the last game on a high with bronze, but where this team wants to be is in that Cup final. Happy to get the win there, though.

“Hopefully we keep building in Hamburg (at the second leg) and we keep getting those wins and getting those performances in.

“We’ve really enjoyed the tournament here. It was a good atmosphere, good weather, great crowd, so it makes it better to play in.”

The Ireland Women will compete at the European Games in Krakow, Poland (June 25-27) – Sevens has been included at the multi-sport event for the first time – before the Rugby Europe Series concludes in the German city of Hamburg (July 7-9).

Ireland fell behind in the Bronze medal match, with a couple of penalties drawing Poland into try-scoring range before Natalia Pamieta converted her own third-minute effort.

The scoreline remained 7-0 during teenage forward King’s sin-binning, before Poland’s Hanna Maliszewska saw yellow for a high tackle on Emily Lane.

Using their numerical advantage, Farrell McCabe and Parsons made huge ground on a break down the right side. Quick ruck ball was fed across to the opposite wing where a timely Flood delivery put King over to open the Irish account.

Trailing 7-5 at the break, Ireland took the lead inside 90 seconds of the restart. A couple of sweetly-timed offloads off the ground from both King and Parsons released Farrell McCabe to score from just inside the Polish 10-metre line.

☘️🥉 Some off-load!

It's a third place finish for @IrishRugby as they defeat Poland at the @Algarve7s. pic.twitter.com/kPRERq8zm5

— Rugby Europe (@rugby_europe) June 11, 2023

Continuing to attack the short side, Lane’s slick offload out of a tackle from Malgorzata Koldej resulted in Parsons scoring in the right corner. Suddenly the gap between the sides was eight points.

Ireland sealed the result with a well-taken try from Gorman, who successfully grounded the ball despite being tackled short by Julianna Schuster. Megan Burns provided the assist, with Flood initially having won a penalty at the breakdown.

Earlier on today, the experienced quartet of Camille Grassineau, Anne-Cécile Ciofani, Jade Ulutule and Shannon Izar returned from injury for eventual champions France, and they made a big difference in the semi-final against Ireland.

Izar played in Séraphine Okemba for the opening try, which coincided with the early injury-enforced departure of Anna McGann. Okemba then reached over to make it 10-0 in the fourth minute.

As Ireland struggled to get out of their own half, Okemba and Izar used turnover ball to send Chloe Jacquet over for the third French try, which also went unconverted.

King unfortunately lacked support on a solo break past halfway, and with France’s swarming defence continuing to force Irish errors, Ciofani slipped out of a tackle to widen the margin to 22 points.

Farrell McCabe and Burns combined to tackle Yolaine Yengo into touch, but Ireland could not prevent a fifth French score – and a 29-0 defeat in the end – despite the best efforts of Flood.

The Ireland skipper retrieved her own kick through and looked to create an opening near halfway, only for Gorman to be hit hard in a tackle, and Joanna Grisez shrugged off Farrell McCabe to go in under the posts.

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series – Leg 1, Algarve Sevens, Portugal, Friday, June 9-Sunday, June 11, 2023):

Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)
Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC) (capt)
Clare Gorman (Old Belvedere RFC)
Katie Heffernan (Railway Union RFC)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)
Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)
Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC)
Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC)
Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC)

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Schedule – Algarve Sevens:

Friday, June 9 –

POOL B:

IRELAND 27 SWEDEN 0, Sports Complex Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Béibhinn Parsons 3, Eve Higgins, Megan Burns; Con: Kate Farrell McCabe
Sweden: –
HT: Ireland 10 Sweden 0

Watch Match Video

Team: Anna McGann, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Eve Higgins, Megan Burns, Béibhinn Parsons.

Subs used: Claire Boles, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Emily Lane, Stacey Flood (capt), Clare Gorman.

IRELAND 43 GERMANY 5, Sports Complex Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Kate Farrell McCabe, Béibhinn Parsons 3, Claire Boles, Clare Gorman, Vicky Elmes Kinlan; Cons: Eve Higgins 4
Germany: Try: Steffi Gruber
HT: Ireland 21 Germany 5

Watch Match Video

Team: Anna McGann, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Eve Higgins, Megan Burns, Béibhinn Parsons.

Subs used: Claire Boles, Emily Lane, Clare Gorman, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Stacey Flood (capt).

Day 1 Round-Up: Parsons Picks Up Two Hat-Tricks As Ireland Women Start Strongly In Algarve

Saturday, June 10 –

POOL B:

IRELAND 12 SPAIN 12, Sports Complex Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Stacey Flood, Béibhinn Parsons; Con: Kate Farrell McCabe
Spain: Tries: Maria Garcia, Paula Requena; Con: Cristina Lopez
HT: Ireland 5 Spain 5

Watch Match Video

Team: Stacey Flood (capt), Claire Boles, Erin King, Emily Lane, Kate Farrell McCabe, Megan Burns, Béibhinn Parsons.

Subs used: Katie Heffernan, Eve Higgins, Anna McGann, Vicky Elmes Kinlan.

CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

IRELAND 22 CZECHIA 5, Sports Complex Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Emily Lane, Erin King, Clare Gorman, Eve Higgins; Con: Eve Higgins
Czechia: Try: Julie Dolezilova
HT: Ireland 10 Czechia 0

Watch Match Video

Team: Stacey Flood (capt), Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Emily Lane, Kate Farrell McCabe, Megan Burns, Béibhinn Parsons.

Subs used: Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Clare Gorman, Anna McGann, Claire Boles, Eve Higgins.

Day 2 Round-Up: Ireland Women Maintain Unbeaten Form At Algarve Sevens

Sunday, June 11 –

CUP SEMI-FINAL:

IRELAND 0 FRANCE 29, Sports Complex Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve
Scorers: Ireland: –
France: Tries: Séraphine Okemba 2, Chloe Jacquet, Anne-Cécile Ciofani, Joanna Grisez; Cons: Jade Ulutule 2
HT: Ireland 0 France 15

Watch Match Video

Team: Anna McGann, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Emily Lane, Kate Farrell McCabe, Megan Burns, Béibhinn Parsons.

Subs used: Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Clare Gorman, Eve Higgins, Claire Boles, Stacey Flood (capt).

BRONZE FINAL:

POLAND 7 IRELAND 20, Sports Complex Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve
Scorers: Poland: Try: Natalia Pamieta; Con: Natalia Pamieta
Ireland: Tries: Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Béibhinn Parsons, Clare Gorman
HT: Poland 7 Ireland 5

Watch Match Video

Team: Stacey Flood (capt), Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Emily Lane, Kate Farrell McCabe, Megan Burns, Béibhinn Parsons.

Subs used: Claire Boles, Eve Higgins, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Clare Gorman.