Categories: Galleries Home Top News Ireland 7s Men's 7s Rugby 7s

Ireland Men Beaten By Fiji In Six-Try Shootout

Ireland's Hugo Keenan tries to get away from Terio Tamani Veilawa during the quarter-final tie in Paris ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

The Ireland Men’s Olympic medal hopes were ended by Fiji, as they suffered a devastasting 19-15 quarter-final defeat having led by eight points at one stage.

Waisea Nacuqu’s 12th-minute try, after Ireland had failed to gather a Fijian restart kick, provided to be the crucial score in a close battle that could have gone either way.

Ireland Sevens – Where To Watch The Olympic Games

James Topping’s side were just over two minutes away from a famous win, with Fiji having won all 15 of their previous Olympic matches.

However, Chay Mullins’ first half brace, and a blindside snipe from Zac Ward, were not enough in the end, as the defending champions closed out the scoring with back-to-back efforts from replacements Joji Nasova and Nacuqu.

Another sell-out crowd of 69,000 fans will be present at the Stade de France on Saturday when Ireland play the USA in the 5th place semi-final (kick-off 3pm local time/2pm Irish time).