Irish Women secure silverware against hosts Poland at Rugby Euro Sevens

Ireland Rugby Women’s Sevens team return home with their first-ever European leg title after a flawless display in the second leg of the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Tournament in Krakow at the weekend. 

The Irish put on a strong showing throughout the action within the last fortnight, finishing 2nd in the group of 10, only losing out to Poland overall who they defeated in a close battle in yesterday’s final. 

It was ultimately the defeats in Lisbon in the first leg to Scotland in Pool 1 and France in the Bronze Final that cost them the overall prize but a ruthless second leg throughout this weekend will lead to a lot of confidence heading to Romania in a couple of weeks in a bid to qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa later this year. 

Ireland cruised to victory on Friday in Pool A over Czechia and Romania, with Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe racking up four tries across the two games. 

The good start was followed by another impressive day of action on Saturday, as Germany and Poland did not prove much of a test to the Irish, with the comprehensive performances setting up the Semi-Final battle with Spain on Sunday. 

The Girls in Green arrived back in Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana on Sunday gunning for glory, and the free-flowing rugby continued against the Spanish, with another whitewash victory setting up their final against hosts Poland. 

Poland threw up the first real test of the weekend for the Irish with an early try but Ireland had control at the break with a nine-point advantage to hold onto in the second half. 

The Polish came back into it in the second half bringing the score back to just four points but captain Lucy Mulhall stepped up to score the winning try and cap off an excellent weekend and overall tournament for Aiden McNulty’s side. 

Sevens World Cup Qualification is now the focus in a couple of weeks’ time is now the aim for the Men and Women with the tournament in South Africa penned for early September. 

The Women will be looking to take one of the four qualifying spots on offer in the European section, with the Irish looking to get back to the tournament where they finished 6th in out in San Francisco in 2018.