Ireland Men Knocked Out Of HSBC SVNS’ Top Tiers

Already assured of earning HSBC SVNS Division 2 status as Pool B winners, Uruguay completed a clean sweep of wins with a 27-12 victory over James Topping’s side, who twice reduced the deficit to five points but conceded two late tries.

With the core group that reached the Paris Olympics splintering due to retirements and other players refocusing on 15s, it has been a testing season for the Ireland Men with some young and inexperienced squad members having to step up.

Pool defeats to Germany (15-0) and Canada (19-12), who both performed well in the HSBC SVNS Challenger Series, and lastly Uruguay mean that Ireland will have to qualify for next season’s SVNS Division 3 standalone Challenger event through the Rugby Europe route.

World Rugby has introduced a new three-level SVNS model from 2025/26 onwards, with the top eight teams that competed in the World Championship bracket in LA going through to Division 1.

Ireland will have to work their way back up to that elite grouping, but notably this new format means that teams can advance from regional qualifiers to global Championship contention in a single season.

Meanwhile, promising youngsters Costello and Kenny took their try hauls for the campaign to nine each today, matching the number reached by 22-year-old flyer Dylan O’Grady, who starred in Singapore last month as Ireland beat New Zealand.

There is no doubt that losing players of the calibre of captain Harry McNulty, Terry Kennedy, Zac Ward, Chay Mullins, Billy Dardis, Gavin Mullin, and Jack Kelly would seriously impact any international Sevens programme. Hugo Lennox and Jordan Conroy also missed tournaments during the latter stages of the year.

Bryan Mollen, the team captain in LA, Mark Roche, and Niall Comerford all soldiered on. With 101 SVNS Series tournament appearances between them, the trio provided the bulk of experience for this squad for the play-offs.

In terms of rebuilding and looking to the immediate future, coach Topping has used seven debutants in this season’s SVNS Series, including Tadhg Brophy, Nicky Greene, Daniel Hawkshaw, and Kenny who were all involved this weekend.

Ireland struggled in the try-scoring stakes during the regular season, with a match average of just 1.8 tries and 11.6 points, so that is something they will have to improve on for next month’s Rugby Europe Men’s Sevens Championship Series.

Makarska will host the opening leg on June 13-15, and the Series champions and medallists will be decided in Hamburg on June 27-29. Topping’s men head up Pool B for the Croatian tournament, with Georgia, Belgium, and Czechia proving the opposition.

Table-topping Uruguay wanted a hat-trick of pool wins and dominated possession early on. Ireland’s defence stood up well to the task, with Juan Gonzalez knocking on to give them scrum ball inside their own 22.

The impressive O’Grady and Costello linked well off the set-piece, the latter scampering past Uruguay’s 10-metre line. However, Diego Ardao came up with a turnover, and Uruguay’a captain soon swatted away two tackles to send Guillermo Lijtenstein away for the opening try.

Los Teros Sevens added a classic team score to extend the lead to 12 points. Their stylish possession play had Ireland on the retreat again, and Tomas Etcheverry scooped a precise pass out for Dante Soto to cross on the right.

Experienced campaigners Mollen and Roche battled hard near their own try-line, upping the physicality in defence to draw a knock-on from scrum half Lijtenstein right on half-time.

Ireland then upped the ante in attack, with the pacy Conor Phillips threatening from O’Grady’s long kick downfield. Uruguay held them at bay, regaining those lost metres courtesy of a penalty kick to touch.

Nonetheless, Topping’s charges attacked again from deep in the 10th minute, following Kenny’s lineout steal. O’Grady neatly set Costello free for a scorching run-in from the right, covering upwards of 100 metres with some clever footwork at the end to get in behind the posts.

The straightforward conversion from replacement Ed Kelly reduced the arrears to 12-7 yet Uruguay’s fresh legs from the bench notched a quick-fire response. Replacement Bautisto Basso burst through a gap and made the right corner ahead of the chasing Greene.

A grandstand finish was the reward for an enthusiastic crowd at the Carson venue, as former winger Kenny – sprinting away via Costello’s offload – caught Uruguay out with a nicely-finished effort from just inside the Irish half.

The wily Ardao scored straight from the restart, though, as he put himself in the right position to mop up the breaking ball, just ahead of O’Grady and Roche, and charge down the right wing to effectively seal the result.

With a late turnover ensuring Uruguay signed off with a fifth try, Ardao was again central to it as a counter-ruck allowed him to pinch the ball back. He drove forward before offloading back inside for Etcheverry to gleefully dive over.

IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS Squad (HSBC SVNS Play-Off Competition – Dignity Health Sports Park, Los Angeles, Saturday, May 3-Sunday, May 4, 2025):

Tadhg Brophy (Lansdowne FC)
Niall Comerford (UCD RFC)
Josh Costello (Shannon RFC)
Nicky Greene (Garryowen FC)
Daniel Hawkshaw (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
Ed Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Josh Kenny (Ireland Sevens)
Zac McConnell (Ireland Sevens)
Bryan Mollen (Old Belvedere RFC) (capt)
Dylan O’Grady (UCD RFC)
Aaron O’Sullivan (Ireland Sevens)
Conor Phillips (Terenure College RFC)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC)

IRELAND MEN’S SEVENS Results – HSBC SVNS Play-Off Competition:

Saturday, May 3 –

POOL B:

IRELAND 0 GERMANY 15, Dignity Health Sports Park Pitch 2
Scorers: Ireland: –
Germany: Tries: Felix Hufnagel, Makonnen Amekuedi; Con: Felix Hufnagel; Pen: Felix Hufnagel
HT: Ireland 0 Germany 12

Team: Nicky Greene, Niall Comerford (capt), Aaron O’Sullivan, Ed Kelly, Daniel Hawkshaw, Dylan O’Grady, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: Bryan Mollen, Tadhg Brophy, Josh Kenny, Zac McConnell, Mark Roche.

IRELAND 12 CANADA 19, Dignity Health Sports Park Pitch 2
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Zac McConnell 2; Con: Tadhg Brophy
Canada: Tries: Thomas Isherwood, Morgan di Nardo, Kyle Tremblay; Cons: Thomas Isherwood, Ethan Turner
HT: Ireland 5 Canada 7

Team: Josh Kenny, Niall Comerford, Bryan Mollen (capt), Mark Roche, Zac McConnell, Dylan O’Grady, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: Tadhg Brophy, Conor Phillips, Nicky Greene, Aaron O’Sullivan, Daniel Hawkshaw.

Day 1 Round-Up – Ireland Men Suffer Back-To-Back Defeats In HSBC SVNS Play-Offs

Sunday, May 4 –

POOL B:

URUGUAY 27 IRELAND 12, Dignity Health Sports Park Pitch 2
Scorers: Uruguay: Tries: Guillermo Lijtenstein, Dante Soto, Bautista Basso, Diego Ardao, Tomas Etcheverry; Con: Ignacio Alvarez Akiki
Ireland: Tries: Josh Costello, Josh Kenny; Con: Ed Kelly
HT: Uruguay 12 Ireland 0

Team: Aaron O’Sullivan, Niall Comerford, Bryan Mollen (capt), Mark Roche, Dylan O’Grady, Conor Phillips, Josh Costello.

Replacements used: Josh Kenny, Ed Kelly, Nicky Greene, Zac McConnell, Daniel Hawkshaw.