Young Ireland Squad Take Lessons From Hamburg Quarter-Final Defeat

Despite a late try from replacement Lucinda Kinghan, Ireland were beaten 22-19 with the Belgians’ haul boosted by a well-taken hat-trick from influential winger Cecile Blondiau.

Kinghan had struck earlier on for a late winner against Poland, as a hard-fought 17-12 win sent Allan Temple-Jones’ youngsters through to the knockout rounds as Pool C winners.

Despite the best efforts of captain Eve Higgins, who has scored six tries so far, Ireland were second best against Belgium and will now contest the 5th-8th play-offs. They face Czechia tomorrow morning at 10.06am local time/9.06am Irish time.

You can keep up to date with the fixtures and results from the Hamburg Sevens on the Rugby Europe website. All the games can be watched live on Rugby Europe TV.

With Olympic qualification secured and the majority of Ireland’s World Series players now on a summer break, Temple-Jones is using the final leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Championships Series to develop some of the emerging talent.

Ten of his 13-player squad competing in Germany are aged 23 or under, with three teenagers involved. Athy’s Amy Larn (pictured above) got her first involvement off the bench against Poland, bringing the number of debuts this weekend to four.

Lying third in the pool table overnight, the girls in green began day two with an early morning showdown with Poland. They needed a solid performance and result in order to bounce back from losing to Italy yesterday.

Launching forward from a first-minute scrum, Higgins expertly drew in two defenders and released Old Belvedere winger Clare Gorman to break clear from halfway and score the opening try.

Although Kate Farrell McCabe landed a well-struck conversion, the physical Poland side were level by the fifth minute. Ilona Zaisliuc spun out of a tackle from Claire Boles to go over, and Natalia Pamieta converted.

Ireland had to scramble to avoid conceding again before half-time, as a turnover won by Sylwia Witkowska was followed by a break from Hanna Maliszewska. Katie Heffernan, Erin King and Gorman made important tackles near their own try-line.

Higgins stepped up with an important try early in the second half, using a clever dummy to ghost through a gap and back her pace to make the line. Farrell McCabe had done really well to force a turnover during the previous phase, off a Polish scrum.

That good work, including Heffernan’s tracking back to cover a kick, was undone when a miscued Irish lineout was gobbled up at the rear by Julia Druzgala for a gift of a try, leaving it 12 points apiece.

Larn came on for her first taste of senior international Sevens and provided the assist for the match-winning score. Higgins and the newly-introduced Vicky Elmes Kinlan carried strongly to put Ireland back in Polish territory.

Building off a last-minute scrum, Kinghan linked with Larn on the left wing and took a return pass, outpacing Aleksandra Lesniak and absorbing Druzgala’s last-ditch tackle to touch down impressively in the corner.

Returning to the pitch for their quarter-final, scrum half Farrell McCabe gave Ireland the best possible start against Belgium. Her show-and-go saw her break away from two defenders and score from halfway. She added the conversion herself.

Frustratingly, Ireland conceded a levelling try from inside the Belgian 22. Blondiau’s sidestep and acceleration took her past Boles and King and all the way to the Irish posts.

The Belgians were warming to the task and began to dominate possession leading up to the interval. Some patient build-up play ended with Ella Alory breaking into space and offloading for Blondiau to double her tally.

Just when Boles was leading a breakout, Heloise Stevens intercepted her offload. King had to cover a kick back in the Irish 22, but she was well tackled and Shari Claes swooped in for a turnover.

Belgium turned the possession into points as Blondiau was well placed to collect Margaux Lalli’s bouncing pass and reach over the line, despite the best efforts of the covering King and Boles.

Trailing 17-7 at the turnaround, Temple-Jones’ message to his charges was to ‘control the ball’ and ‘control the game’. Initially, it was the Belgians who slowed the game down and managed to dictate play.

That was until a penalty gave Ireland an inviting scrum platform, and Higgins weaved infield, slipping out of a tackle and offloading for the supporting Aoibheann Reilly to finish off strongly beside the posts. Farrell McCabe converted.

Disappointingly, Ireland gave five of those points back straight from the restart. Blondiau did well to set Lalli away down the right touchline. Kinghan chased her down but an offload flung back inside found Emilie Musch to make it 22-14.

With only two-and-a-half minutes left before the final hooter, Ireland needed to hit back quickly. Two penalties drew them within range before a good line of passes ended with Elmes Kinlan putting Kinghan over out wide.

That last-minute try went unconverted as Higgins’ effort fell wide, and although Farrell McCabe’s restart was right on the money, Lalli got to it just ahead of Higgins and kicked the ball dead to seal the result.

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Squad (Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series – Leg 2, Hamburg Sevens, Germany, Friday, July 7-Sunday, July 9, 2023):

Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)
Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC/Blackrock College RFC) *
Clare Gorman (Old Belvedere RFC)
Katie Heffernan (Railway Union RFC)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC) (capt)
Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Amy Larn (Athy RFC) *
Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC)
Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock College RFC)
Ava Ryder (Railway Union RFC) *
Emma Tilly (MU Barnhall RFC/Old Belvedere RFC) *

* Denotes uncapped player

IRELAND WOMEN’S SEVENS Schedule – Hamburg Sevens:

Friday, July 7 –

POOL C:

IRELAND 32 PORTUGAL 5, Sportpark Steinwiesenweg, Hamburg
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Eve Higgins 3, Katie Heffernan, Kate Farrell McCabe, Clare Gorman; Con: Kate Farrell McCabe
Portugal: Try: Mariana Santos
HT: Ireland 22 Portugal 0

Watch Match Video

Team: Claire Boles, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Eve Higgins (capt), Alanna Fitzpatrick, Clare Gorman.

Subs used: Lucinda Kinghan, Aoibheann Reilly, Ava Ryder, Emma Tilly. Not used: Amy Larn.

IRELAND 19 ITALY 24, Sportpark Steinwiesenweg, Hamburg
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Eve Higgins 2, Claire Boles; Cons: Kate Farrell McCabe 2
Italy: Tries: Aura Muzzo 2, Beatrice Capomaggi, Laura Paganini; Cons: Laura Paganini, Gaia Buso
HT: Ireland 12 Italy 12

Watch Match Video

Team: Claire Boles, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Eve Higgins (capt), Alanna Fitzpatrick, Clare Gorman.

Subs used: Aoibheann Reilly, Lucinda Kinghan. Not used: Ava Ryder, Emma Tilly, Amy Larn.

Day 1 Round-Up: Ireland Sevens Youngsters Given Valuable Game-Time In Hamburg Heat

Saturday, July 8 –

POOL C:

IRELAND 17 POLAND 12, Sportpark Steinwiesenweg, Hamburg
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Clare Gorman, Eve Higgins, Lucinda Kinghan; Con: Kate Farrell McCabe
Poland: Tries: Ilona Zaisliuc, Julia Druzgala; Con: Natalia Pamieta
HT: Ireland 7 Poland 7

Watch Match Video

Team: Claire Boles, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Eve Higgins (capt), Alanna Fitzpatrick, Clare Gorman.

Subs used: Emma Tilly, Lucinda Kinghan, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Amy Larn. Not used: Ava Ryder.

CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

IRELAND 19 BELGIUM 22, Sportpark Steinwiesenweg, Hamburg
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Kate Farrell McCabe, Aoibheann Reilly, Lucinda Kinghan; Cons: Kate Farrell McCabe 2
Belgium: Tries: Cecile Blondiau 3, Emilie Musch; Cons: Ella Amory
HT: Ireland 7 Belgium 17

Watch Match Video

Team: Claire Boles, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Kate Farrell McCabe, Eve Higgins (capt), Alanna Fitzpatrick, Clare Gorman.

Subs used: Aoibheann Reilly, Lucinda Kinghan, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Amy Larn. Not used: Ava Ryder.

Sunday, July 9 –

5TH-8TH PLACE SEMI-FINAL:

CZECHIA v IRELAND, Sportpark Steinwiesenweg, Hamburg, kick-off 10.06am local time/9.06am Irish time