The Ireland Women's Sevens team (sponsored by TritonLake) ended the Singapore Sevens in fifth place, thanks to an Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe-inspired play-off win over Japan.
In their only match on the last day of the tournament, stand-in captain Murphy Crowe scored a superb hat-trick of tries to give her side just enough of a lead to claim an eventual 19-17 victory.
Japan, who had beaten Ireland 12-5 in Hong Kong last month, scored the final two tries of today's encounter, but Arisa Nishi's missed conversion, right at the death, meant the girls in green held on by two points.
It was a solid weekend's work from Allan Temple-Jones' charges, who used Eve Higgins in an impact role off the bench, just a week on from her Guinness Women's Six Nations exploits, and the inspirational Ashleigh Orchard (née Baxter) was back in the green jersey after a long absence.
The returning Orchard, whose last SVNS Series appearance was in Dubai in December 2018, even chipped in with a try. Murphy Crowe led the try-scoring with five touchdowns, while Stacey Flood and Vicky Elmes Kinlan both crossed the whitewash twice.
Fifth was the Ireland Women's second highest finish of the regular season, and their best placing since winning the Perth title in January. They picked up 12 points to move onto 66 points overall, occupying seventh place in the standings ahead of the Madrid Grand Final on May 31-June 2.
The top eight teams, led by SVNS Series League winners New Zealand, retain their core status for 2025, and head to the Spanish capital in a few weeks' time where they will compete to be crowned the HSBC SVNS champions for 2024.
Ireland fell behind to a first-minute try from Japanese veteran Chiharu Nakamura, whose clever dummy and burst of acceleration took her through a gap and away to score at the posts.
Wicklow youngster Elmes Kinlan showed her strength to drive through two tackles, making it up into Japan's 22 before unfortunately losing the ball forward. However, Ireland made their tackles to keep the Sakura Sevens pinned back.
A well-timed challenge from Megan Burns meant a Japanese offload did not go to hand, and Orchard neatly tidied up possession to send Murphy Crowe surging in behind the posts in the fourth minute. Flood tagged on the conversion.
Japan upped the pace in response, but Ireland kept them out of scoring range and managed to hit the front past the half-time gong. Orchard was first again to a breaking ball, and a few phases later, Murphy Crowe was able to speed clear.
The Tipperary native popped up in midfield, breaking from a ruck and evading two tackles on an excellent 70-metre run-in. That gave her side a 12-7 buffer at the break, with Higgins sprung from the bench for the start of the second half.
Try number three quickly followed for Ireland's record try scorer, as her jinking run, which started from inside Ireland's 10-metre line, took her away from Hanako Utsumi and Nishi to cruise home from the left wing. Higgins clipped over the conversion.
Good work from Nishi, who wormed her way up close to the line, teed up Nakamura to pick from the ruck and complete her brace in the 11th minute. Nishi was unable to convert, leaving the scoreboard showing 19-12.
Despite Flood doing well to win a turnover penalty, Japan were playing with renewed energy. An Emily Lane knock-on allowed them to attack off a scrum, and a sidestepping Rinka Matsuda evaded both Flood and Lane to raid over from a ruck just outside the Irish 22.
Time was up on the clock and Nishi missed the chance to take the game into extra-time, with her conversion attempt narrowly missing on the near side. Ireland had done enough to edge it, although Japan ended up matching them on try count.
The returning Orchard, whose last SVNS Series appearance was in Dubai in December 2018, even chipped in with a try. Murphy Crowe led the try-scoring with five touchdowns, while Stacey Flood and Vicky Elmes Kinlan both crossed the whitewash twice.
Fifth was the Ireland Women's second highest finish of the regular season, and their best placing since winning the Perth title in January. They picked up 12 points to move onto 66 points overall, occupying seventh place in the standings ahead of the Madrid Grand Final on May 31-June 2.
The top eight teams, led by SVNS Series League winners New Zealand, retain their core status for 2025, and head to the Spanish capital in a few weeks' time where they will compete to be crowned the HSBC SVNS champions for 2024.
Ireland fell behind to a first-minute try from Japanese veteran Chiharu Nakamura, whose clever dummy and burst of acceleration took her through a gap and away to score at the posts.
Wicklow youngster Elmes Kinlan showed her strength to drive through two tackles, making it up into Japan's 22 before unfortunately losing the ball forward. However, Ireland made their tackles to keep the Sakura Sevens pinned back.
A well-timed challenge from Megan Burns meant a Japanese offload did not go to hand, and Orchard neatly tidied up possession to send Murphy Crowe surging in behind the posts in the fourth minute. Flood tagged on the conversion.
Japan upped the pace in response, but Ireland kept them out of scoring range and managed to hit the front past the half-time gong. Orchard was first again to a breaking ball, and a few phases later, Murphy Crowe was able to speed clear.
The Tipperary native popped up in midfield, breaking from a ruck and evading two tackles on an excellent 70-metre run-in. That gave her side a 12-7 buffer at the break, with Higgins sprung from the bench for the start of the second half.
Try number three quickly followed for Ireland's record try scorer, as her jinking run, which started from inside Ireland's 10-metre line, took her away from Hanako Utsumi and Nishi to cruise home from the left wing. Higgins clipped over the conversion.
Good work from Nishi, who wormed her way up close to the line, teed up Nakamura to pick from the ruck and complete her brace in the 11th minute. Nishi was unable to convert, leaving the scoreboard showing 19-12.
Despite Flood doing well to win a turnover penalty, Japan were playing with renewed energy. An Emily Lane knock-on allowed them to attack off a scrum, and a sidestepping Rinka Matsuda evaded both Flood and Lane to raid over from a ruck just outside the Irish 22.
Time was up on the clock and Nishi missed the chance to take the game into extra-time, with her conversion attempt narrowly missing on the near side. Ireland had done enough to edge it, although Japan ended up matching them on try count.