After making a sluggish start to the tournament, the Ireland Women's Sevens team (sponsored by TritonLake) won three of their last four matches in Hamburg to earn a fifth place finish.
Ireland put together play-off wins over hosts Germany (12-0) and Czechia (26-12) today, with Wicklow's Vicky Elmes Kinlan continuing her impressive recent form with a four-try haul as the top Irish try scorer.
The second leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship also saw Béibhinn Parsons run in three tries, including a terrific individual effort against Great Britain yesterday. Stand-in captain Amee-Leigh Murphy, Emily Lane, and Eve Higgins bagged two tries each.
This weekend marked the final competitive outing for Allan Temple-Jones' side before their Olympic debut. Apart from absent skipper Lucy Rock, Ireland's full Paris 2024 selection was involved in Hamburg as they ended the European Series in seventh place overall.
The first match of the final day's morning session took a while to catch fire in testing wet conditions. Good defensive pressure kept Germany pinned back inside their own half, and Stacey Flood launched Ireland's first attack off a scrum.
Alanna Fitzpatrick ended up being crowded out near the left corner, forced into touch by Mette Zimmat's tackle. Sophie Hacker picked from a ruck to charge up into the Irish 22, only for Parsons to reel her in and claim a textbook poach at the breakdown.
Ireland duly turned the possession into points, as Higgins made it up towards halfway, and then Megan Burns retrieved a spilled pass, 70 metres out, jinking inside Hacker and dashing clear to go over untouched. Flood converted for a 7-0 lead.
Coming out of a scrappy second half spell, replacement Lane was first to a loose ball. Wicklow youngsters Erin King and Elmes Kinlan both carried well before Higgins crashed over in the 11th minute having initially juggled a Burns pass.
Knock-ons and reset scrums ate up the clock, adding to Germany's frustration as they remained stuck inside their own half. Claire Boles and Amy Larn were both sprung from the Irish bench to get some more game-time under their belts.
Meanwhile, for the fifth place decider, Czechia, familiar rivals for Ireland this summer, provided the opposition. Their first Czech attack of note was well defended, with Fitzpatrick bundling Anezka-Marta Sladkova into touch.
Wearing their white and grey alternate jerseys, Temple-Jones' charges made inroads through Fitzpatrick and Kathy Baker. Higgins made the breakthrough to score in the third minute, getting outside Anezka Skalova to raid over from outside the Czechia 22.
Ireland kept the pressure on, with Flood and Baker both earning penalties. The latter went quickly inside the Czech 22, barging up close before Flood picked from the ruck to score. The Dubliner also drilled over a peach of a conversion from the right.
Armed with a 14-0 interval lead, the influential Higgins set the tone early on the resumption with a big, ball-dislodging tackle on Christine Tesarova. A couple of phases later, Burns' neat switch sent Ashleigh Orchard in under the posts from the edge of Czechia's 22.
A quick tap paved the way for Tesarova to reduce the deficit to 21-5 in the 11th minute. Despite Julie Dolezilova taking her team into double figure with a slick show-and-go effort, Ireland finished strongly with Larn releasing Elmes Kinlan to go over from the right wing.
The first match of the final day's morning session took a while to catch fire in testing wet conditions. Good defensive pressure kept Germany pinned back inside their own half, and Stacey Flood launched Ireland's first attack off a scrum.
Alanna Fitzpatrick ended up being crowded out near the left corner, forced into touch by Mette Zimmat's tackle. Sophie Hacker picked from a ruck to charge up into the Irish 22, only for Parsons to reel her in and claim a textbook poach at the breakdown.
Ireland duly turned the possession into points, as Higgins made it up towards halfway, and then Megan Burns retrieved a spilled pass, 70 metres out, jinking inside Hacker and dashing clear to go over untouched. Flood converted for a 7-0 lead.
Coming out of a scrappy second half spell, replacement Lane was first to a loose ball. Wicklow youngsters Erin King and Elmes Kinlan both carried well before Higgins crashed over in the 11th minute having initially juggled a Burns pass.
Knock-ons and reset scrums ate up the clock, adding to Germany's frustration as they remained stuck inside their own half. Claire Boles and Amy Larn were both sprung from the Irish bench to get some more game-time under their belts.
Meanwhile, for the fifth place decider, Czechia, familiar rivals for Ireland this summer, provided the opposition. Their first Czech attack of note was well defended, with Fitzpatrick bundling Anezka-Marta Sladkova into touch.
Wearing their white and grey alternate jerseys, Temple-Jones' charges made inroads through Fitzpatrick and Kathy Baker. Higgins made the breakthrough to score in the third minute, getting outside Anezka Skalova to raid over from outside the Czechia 22.
Ireland kept the pressure on, with Flood and Baker both earning penalties. The latter went quickly inside the Czech 22, barging up close before Flood picked from the ruck to score. The Dubliner also drilled over a peach of a conversion from the right.
Armed with a 14-0 interval lead, the influential Higgins set the tone early on the resumption with a big, ball-dislodging tackle on Christine Tesarova. A couple of phases later, Burns' neat switch sent Ashleigh Orchard in under the posts from the edge of Czechia's 22.
A quick tap paved the way for Tesarova to reduce the deficit to 21-5 in the 11th minute. Despite Julie Dolezilova taking her team into double figure with a slick show-and-go effort, Ireland finished strongly with Larn releasing Elmes Kinlan to go over from the right wing.