The Ireland Men's Sevens team secured qualification for their second consecutive Olympic Games on Tuesday. James Topping's team earned their ticket to Paris 2024 by emerging victorious at the European Games in Krakow.
Two second-half tries from Jordan Conroy sealed a 26-12 Cup final win for the Ireland Men's Sevens team over Great Britain, earning them the double prize of Olympic qualification and the European Games title.
After their debut appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Games, Ireland will once again compete at the event in Paris next summer. They will also join the Ireland Women's Sevens team, who qualified for their first Olympics.
Harry McNulty, one of Ireland's players, remarked that he was delighted to see both the men and the women's teams heading to the games this summer.
"I can't put it into words. Just the effort from everybody involved – teammates, backroom staff, all the lads at home that didn't get the opportunity to come over and play here, the traveling support."
"I think there was nearly more Irish than Polish here at one stage! It's fantastic (to qualify for Paris 2024), it's something that we've been working on for so long."
PARIS QUALIFIED! 🇫🇷#Ireland7s | @TritonLake pic.twitter.com/26CGMZeUHD
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) June 27, 2023
"Basically, the last two seasons have merged into one because Covid pushed a couple of tournaments, so it's been like a way, way longer season than we're usually used to."
"We just had to keep digging in and keep working hard for each other, and to get the result is fantastic," added McNulty. "It means the men and the women are both going to Paris with a full year run at it."
"First time we're both going to the Olympic Games together, it's fantastic. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it! For both sides of the program, I couldn't be happier! I'm delighted."
Fellow player Terry Kennedy added, "The last Olympics (in Tokyo) we just got in, and as soon as that finished, we spoke about making sure we got there a little bit earlier for Paris, so we had a bit more lead-in time."
"I'm so proud of all the lads. The competition was fierce, there are so many good teams in Europe. It's a really tough format to get through."
"So to come through – not only this tournament but the Algarve one a few weeks ago – completely unbeaten was incredible. It just shows the grit and determination of the squad."
The Olympic Rugby Sevens competition will take place from July 24-30, 2024, at the Stade de France in Paris.
