A great day out at the #Womens7s

As you can see by the Vine clip above there was a great cheer from the Belfield Bowl crowd as the Irish team took the field for their first match in the World #Womens7s qualifier this lunchtime...

The stand filled up even more as the afternoon went on but the steady drizzle probably scared off a few punters.  Still it was a superb occasion with 3 sets of six matches and quality rugby throughout.

It was also great to see "non-traditional" rugby nations like Colombia, China and Mexico taking part and while there were a few "cricket scores" on the day overall the standard of the sevens code on show was.

A couple of those big scorelines were posted by Anthony Eddy's Irish side as they overpowered Mexico and Hong Kong 64-0 and 50-0 respectively but for their third and final pool match against the South African outfit they weren't having things all their own way.

The Bokke were a whole lot stingier on defence and while we did eventually find a way to break through in the second half, it wasn't without leaking three tries down the other end - I thought a knockon was missed for the first try and the "tumble" method of finishing the third was unnecessary but that was probably just my green goggles!

Still...there was a lot of positives from the Irish girls and the way the quarterfinal draw has played out they could well have a second crack at South Africa tomorrow :

Women's Sevens Dublin - Cup Quarter-Finals:

10.30am - South Africa v Hong Kong

10.52am - Ireland v China

11.14am - Japan v Wales

11.36am - Netherlands v Brazil

Cup Semi-Finals:

2.20pm - South Africa or Hong Kong v Ireland or China

2.42pm - Japan or Wales v Netherlands or Brazil

All in all it was a great atmosphere...the crowd made themselves heard no matter which countries were taking part and whenever a try was scored, not only did that well known bit from the Fratelli's "Chelsea Dagger" play out over the speakers, but a ball-girl had to bring a new ball out to the centre circle only to sheepishly jog back to the touchline as her mates caught here eye trying to make her smile (always succeeding).

Definitely an event worth a visit - even if you can't make the full day you can be strategic with the schedule and still have a good time.  There is of course food and drink stalls present plus some fun and games for the little ones.

Best of luck to the girls tomorrow in the playoffs...spots in the World Series are at stake and with an amazing array of talent like Jenny Murphy, Alison Miller and Lucy Mulhall (to name but 3) we can definitely do it!

Bravo to the IRFU and all involved in staging it (especially the free ponchos...they were very much needed!) JLP

Support the Girls in Green at UCD this weekend

You see the schedule above, a link for tickets is there in the sidebar (though you can of course buy tickets on the day) and the weather is promising to be clement.  So if you can make it to Dublin and international rugby is your bag (and let's face it, you're reading this blog so there's no hiding it!) then you really should check out the World Women's 7s qualifiers at the UCD Bowl today & tomorrow.

 

While any sevens day out is a great event in and of itself, this particular one has extra meaning.  Up for grabs and definitely within Ireland's reach (due to talent more than merely home advantage) is a spot among the the dozen nations who will take part in the next World Series circuit.

 

The goal in Day 1 is to qualify for the quarterfinals.  As you can see above, Ireland play Mexico at 12:50, Hong Kong at 15:22 and finish with South Africa at 18:28.  Then should we make it out of the pool we have the knockout phase tomorrow...the overall aim is to finish in the top 3 and thus qualify for the World Series.

 

So I hope to see you there!  Best of luck to the girls in green! JLP

 

[But if you really really really can't make it and still want to watch, the IRFU are streaming it here.]

 

SQUADS

BRAZIL: 1. Juliana Silva 2. Angelica Gevaerd 3. Luiza Campos 4. Edna Santini 5. Paula Ishibashi (captain) 6. Isadora Cerullo 7. Haline Scatrut 8. Beatriz Muhlbauer 9. Claudia Teles 10. Raquel Kochhann 11. Mariana Ramalho 12. Thais Rocha.

CHINA: 1. Min Yang 2. Qishi Guan (captain) 3. Yuanyuan Lu 4. Yang Liu 5. Wen Qing Zhao 6. Rui Zhong 7. Xiaoming Yu 8. Jiaxin Zhou 9. Qianqian Jiang 10. Shichao Sun 11. Xueqin Tong 12. Keyi Chen.

COLOMBIA: 1. Carolina Naranjo 2. Catalina Arango 3. Alejandra Betancur (captain) 4. Nicole Acevedo 5. Ana Catalina Ramirez 6. Isabel Romero 7. Ruth Lozano 8. Solangie Delgado 9. Camilla Lopez 10. Katerine Medina 11. Estefania Ramirez 12. Laura Isabel Gonzalez.

HONG KONG: 1. Amelie Odile Marie Seure 2. Leon Sze Royce Chan (captain) 3. Christine Gordon 4. Ka Chi Christy Cheng 5. Sau Yan Kwon 6. Natasha Shangwe Olson-Thorne 7. Pou Fan Lai 8. Wai Sum Sham 9. Lindsay Varty 10. Tsz Ting Cheng 11. Ka Man Nam 12. Pak Yan Poon.

IRELAND: 1. Audrey O'Flynn 2. Jennifer Murphy 3. Stacey Flood 4. Hannah Tyrell 5. Amee Leigh Crowe 6. Ashleigh Baxter 7. Katie Fitzhenry 8. Claire Keohane 9. Lucy Mulhall (captain) 10. Claire Molloy 11. Louise Galvin 12. Alison Miller.

JAPAN: 1. Chiharu Nakamura (captain) 2. Makiko Tomita 3. Mifuyu Koide 4. Yoko Suzuki 5. Yuka Kanematsu 6. Chisato Yokoo 7. Noriko Taniguchi 9. Aye Takeuchi 10. Ano Kuwai 11. Yume Okuroda 12. Mateitoga Bogidraumainadave.

KENYA: 1. Camilyne Oyuayo 2. Janet Owino 3. Aura Sinaida 4. Sheila Chajira 5. Rachael Mbogo 6. Linet Arasa 7. Doreen Remour 8. Janet Okello 9. Irene Otieno 10. Catherina Abila (captain) 11. Celestine Masinde 12. Philadelphia Orlando.

MEXICO: 1. Michelle Farah (captain) 2. Wendy García 3. Alma Rivera 4. Gabriela García 5. Casandra Montero 6. Xiomara Piña 7. Fernanda Carrillo 8. Claudia Rendón 9. Carolina Sandoval 10. Rosa Rivera 11. Georgina Zenteno 12. Daniela Rosales.

NETHERLANDS: 1. Joyce van Altena 2. Sanne Klem 3. Nikki Weijers 4. Paula Christina Schouten 5. Elke van Meer 6. Pien Selbeck 7. Dorien Maria Eppink 8. Anne Simone Hielckert (captain) 9. Johanna Marije van Rossum 10. Pleuni Kievit 11. Marsha Alida Völker 12. Jannicke Jackelien Ijdens.

SAMOA: Jacinta Ausai 2. Taalili Iosefo 3. Apaula Kerisiano Enesi 4. Soteria Pulumu (captain) 5. Tafale Roma Malesi 6. Iunaite Falelua 7. Bernadette Josephine Robertson 8. Justine Manaia Iopu 9. Irene Siai Macarthur 10. Suititi Miczel Ailaoa 11. Filoi Fatima Eneliko 12. Toluiva Keneti.

SOUTH AFRICA: 1. Sinazo Nobele 2. Rachelle Geldenhuys 3. Zaandre Theron 4. Fundiswa Plaatjie 5. Zenay Jordaan (captain) 6. Veroeshka Grain 7. Phumeza Gadu 8. Nosiphiwo Goda 9. Lorinda Brown 10. Mathrin Simmers 11. Jacqueline Kriel 12. Marithy Pienaar.

WALES: 1. Jessica Kavanagh 2. Jasmine Joyce 3. Laurie Harries 4. Elinor Snowsill 5. Ffion Bowen 6. Sian Williams (captain) 7. Beth Dainton 8. Adi Taviner 9. Rhian Nokes 10. Elen Evens 11. Gemma Rowland 12. Shona Powell-Hughes.