Ireland Men’s And Women’s Sevens Squads Confirmed For 2024 Season

With just two weeks to go until the HSBC SVNS 2024 season opener in Dubai, Men’s Head Coach James Topping and Women’s Head Coach Allan Temple-Jones have today confirmed their 19-player Centralised squads, as the build up to the 2024 Olympics begins in earnest.

The new-look HSBC SVNS Series kicks off at the Dubai Sevens Stadium from 2-3 December, the first of eight double-header tournaments culminating in the first ever Grand Final in Madrid in May.

Both Ireland squads have already secured qualification for Paris 2024, Temple-Jones’ side doing so through last season’s World Series, while the Ireland Men booked their Olympic ticket by winning last summer’s European Games in Krakow.

Harry McNulty has been confirmed as the Men’s Sevens captain for 2024, while Lucy Mulhall will lead the Women’s Sevens into a historic season.

There are nine Olympians from Tokyo 2020 included in the Men’s Sevens panel confirmed today by Head Coach Topping, with Terry Kennedy – the World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year 2022 – returning to the Centralised squad after a year out last season.

Mulhall captains an experienced Women’s Sevens squad as they prepare for their debut Olympic appearance, while Alanna Fitzpatrick and Amy Larn have been rewarded with National Sevens contracts for the first time having progressed through the High Performance Pathway, most recently winning their senior debuts at Rugby Europe in Hamburg last July.

Vikki Wall, the two-time All-Ireland Football Championship winner with Meath who also enjoyed a spell in the AFLW with North Melbourne, has been in the National Sevens programme since August, featuring in pre-season tournaments in Dublin and Elche.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Men’s Head Coach Topping said: “It has been a very positive pre-season period for the squad, as we’ve got through a good body of work here at the IRFU High Performance Centre, whilst also testing ourselves in match situations in Elche and most recently in Malaga.

“We have strong experience in our Centralised squad and competition for places will be high throughout the season as we build towards Paris 2024. We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead but the focus now is for us to achieve progression and consistency in our performances, starting at the HSBC SVNS Series opener in Dubai.”

Women’s Head Coach Temple-Jones said: “We are delighted to confirm the Centralised squad ahead of a significant season for the Ireland Sevens programme. The players have worked hard during a long pre-season period and I know the entire group are relishing the challenges ahead, determined to maximise our potential on the world and Olympic stage.”

The Ireland Men’s and Women’s Sevens squads for Dubai will be announced next week, while Men’s and Women’s Development teams will also travel to Dubai to compete in the International Invitational Tournament, providing all players in the programme with access to early-season game time.

From Dubai, the HSBC SVNS 2024 moves on to Cape Town (9-10 December) for the second leg of the pre-Christmas double header, before Perth takes centre stage from 26-28 January.

As part of the new-look Series, all tournaments will be played as combined Men’s and Women’s events, with Vancouver (23-25 February) and Los Angeles (2-3 March) following on from Perth, and Hong Kong (5-7 April) and Singapore (3-5 May) preceding the Grand Final in Madrid (31 May-2 June).

Ireland Men’s Sevens – 2024 Squad: Niall Comerford, Jordan Conroy, Sean Cribbin, Billy Dardis, Ed Kelly, Jack Kelly, Terry Kennedy, JJ Kenny, Hugo Lennox, Matt McDonald, Harry McNulty, Bryan Mollen, Gavin Mullin, Chay Mullins, Dylan O’Grady, Aaron O’Sullivan, Connor O’Sullivan, Mark Roche, Zac Ward.

Ireland Women’s Sevens – 2024 Squad: Kathy Baker, Claire Boles, Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Alanna Fitzpatrick, Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Lucinda Kinghan, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Emily Lane, Amy Larn, Kate Farrell McCabe, Anna McGann, Lucy Mulhall, Beibhinn Parsons, Aoibheann Reilly, Vikki Wall.