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Harry McNulty: 'The one thing I still haven’t done in my career'
No sooner did RugbyPass get to the platform at the airport railway station the other day did it become immediately apparent that Hong Kong 7s week is special. Spiderman got off the train that just pulled up, and the costume theme continued at Wednesday’s pre-tournament photocall.
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Harry McNulty, Ireland’s recently turned 31-year-old, is quite the character on the HSBC SVNS circuit. When the accessories box was opened at the stadium, he dived in and wound-up wearing cat ears and a bow tie in the pictures taken on the South Stand, the area of the ground famed for its unabashed party atmosphere.
He wasn’t faking it either. McNulty has earned his stripes having previously watched the festival from this den of bonhomie. “I’ve been in the South Stand twice supporting,” he enthusiastically told RugbyPass.
“One year as a group we made a dodgeball sort of style team and then the other year, we did the Aussie, Steve Irwin style. This year I managed to pick up a pair of cat ears and a bow tie, so I think I have already got my costume lined up for the weekend. Yeah, we’re looking good.”
Hong Kong has special memories for the Ireland 7s team as it was on the Island that they won an atmospheric 2019 play-off against the hosts to book their place on the HSBC circuit. Not bad for a team that only restarted from nothing in 2014 way, way down the international ladder.
"Alright, perfect…"
– It was a captain's call with a difference on Wednesday as players from the 24 teams at this weekend's Hong Kong 7s got into the swing of the famed South Stand party atmosphere a few days early. #HSBCSVNS@SVNSSeries @OfficialHK7s #HK7s pic.twitter.com/0RFJ5i0S3I
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 3, 2024
“We go to play against Hong Kong in the final, so this place was extra rammed,” explained McNulty, casting his mind back to vibrant five-year-old memories. “It was just incredible the noise running out but specifically we had our families here.
“Everybody came out to support us and it was just such a massive part of the programme as well, it was something we have been fighting for four, five years for to try and qualify, and then for it to happen – we have gone on to do so many great things since but that was really the start of everything. It was amazing.”
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That’s the type of description that can be applied to McNulty’s rugby career. Born in Bahrain, his family also lived in London and New York before he checked into Co Tipperary’s Rockwell College as a teenager, finishing as a provincial school finalist and enrolling in the Munster academy.
University qualifications became the priority, but he kept the rugby ticking along with baby steps in the Irish 7s renewal. A multitude of limited-profile tournaments off the beaten track were ticked off before the big-time materialised.
That has them qualified for Paris 2024, their second successive Olympics, but cracking the circuit by finally winning a leg of the tournament is an itch that McNulty is now desperate to scratch after bronze medal finishes this season in Perth and LA.
“We know as a team it’s something we are capable of. We have been in finals before, just maybe not performed or things didn’t go our way. There are lots of things that can go on in a tournament.
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“It’s the one thing that I still haven’t done in my career and it’s there for us. I’m just hoping that all things go to plan and we play the way we can play, take care of all our own rugby side of it, don’t let it be affected by anybody else and just do our job. Yeah, to win a tournament would be something special.
“Hong Kong is going to be electric. Pre-covid days when I played here this was phenomenal. This is where we qualified for the World Series. Covid slowed things down.
“It’s back open again but also the talk is this is the last time this tournament is being played in this stadium here in Hong Kong, it’s moving across the bay next year so everybody is going to come down, make the most of the weekend.”
Those ‘last time’ dynamics are part of the reason why McNulty is fully focused on successfully getting his team out of a Hong Kong pool containing Spain, Samoa and South Africa rather than viewing this weekend as merely another stepping stone towards Paris at the end of July.
“Totally. The series this year is eight legs. There’s Hong Kong, Singapore and then Madrid. That’s all taking place before the Olympics. Each one of these is so important in order to get everything right, to get game time, to get your confidence.
“This is just as important as the Olympics itself. This is realistically where all the preparation is taking place, so you want to be preparing well to go into the Olympics.
“It doesn’t just happen at the end of July. It all happens now and we have been going since December when we started in Dubai. It’s extremely important.”
Sure is.
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Comments on RugbyPass
4 out of 8 beats 3 out of 10 cups. Maybe NZ are bad finishers???🤣🤣🤣
43 Go to commentsBokke bokke Bokke
1 Go to commentsThe main thing you need on your side to win a World Cup is luck. ABs had their fair share of it in the 2011 final. One score game in the SF vs Springboks in 2015 means there always things you can look at and say if this thing or that thing happened then SA would/should have won that game. Smith’s try being called back broke protocol, but it was the correct decision, so I don’t have a problem with that. If it was an SA try called back in the same circumstances I don’t think many ABS fans would have a problem with it. Cane’s shot was high, it was the classic thing NZ players have been doing, and getting carded for for years - Walking around bolt upright trying to put a big hit on someone. Stupid play by someone with a poor disciplinary record. The one that was a big problem for me was Etzebeth’s obstruction. The referee just choked on this occasion. Frustrating to have the TMO in his ear all night, apart from at this moment. Minimum yellow card for Etzebeth, but a very strong case for a penalty try also. Despite all that the ABs had the opportunity to be ahead with 3 minutes to play, so it’s hard to point fingers too much. Pollard makes that kick 99/100. JB and RM make it 50/100. That’s what it came down to in the end.
43 Go to commentsBOKS had a great side in 2011 and were in kicked out by a NZ ref and Nz were very lucky to win in final against France.
43 Go to commentsBarrett's try came from a forward pass, and perhaps the Bok game plan would have been different had the ABs remained with 15 on the pitch. We will never know. But if we are living in a world if what if's, then go back to the France v Bok game. France dominated the WC, and had they gotten past the boks, would have easily beaten the ABs in the Final
43 Go to commentsRehashed articles. But this piece does not do justice to how good the Boks had to be to win that tournament, and how immense some of their players were in that final. Peter Stef du Toit played one of the greatest games by a loose forward ever. All Blacks played well but not well enough and came up short. There are a million ‘if’s’ and none of the ‘if’s’ that don’t happen will win you a footy match.
43 Go to commentsSour grapes/ face it the allblacks aren't that good anymore LoL!!!
43 Go to commentsDear Internet, This is what sour grapes look like… It wont make any difference in down playing the SA win. The scoreboard is the ultimate statistic. I agree with Johnz, I would have liked a full 15vs15 for the whole game. Could have been even better or worse. What we as rugby supporters got, was a fantastic game where the result could have gone either way. It was great.
43 Go to commentsben loser smith. I haven't read the article. Just saw the headline and knew it was him. Rugbypass surely you can do better than this clickbate loser.
43 Go to commentsIf if if….If my aunt had balls she would be my uncle
43 Go to commentsBen is right, the RWC should be taken from SA and awarded to NZ. Rugby matches from now on will not be decided on points but rather on who deserved to win the most. This will be decided by 1 journalist sitting in a bunker.
43 Go to commentsThat's quite a wind up Ben. I'm an all black fan, and admittedly the loss felt a little hollow, given how well the boys played once Cane left the field. But that's finals footy, sometimes it's cruel. Let's look at the reality though. This was a team that spent an entire year thinking about how to beat Ireland, and did so magnificently. Come final time, they started the match looking overawed, fearful and unprepared. This led them to getting behind on the scoreboard, and chasing the game, which is never a good position to be in a final. SA started better, were confident and assured. That, in the end, was the game. The comeback led by Savea was phenomenal, but not quite enough. That's how comebacks often go. The real questions should be why they looked so unprepared? Why we needed to get behind and lose our so called leader to start playing? And why the best player against SA from a month or two before wasn't even in the team? Plus give some credit where it's due, PSD was quite phenomenal and instrumental in keeping SA ahead, a performance for the ages.
43 Go to commentsMy only response is “Check the Scoreboard” nothing else matters. Ben you will not wind me up pal. Boks are 4 times RWC Champions.
43 Go to commentsThere is no place to hide in the front row. You win or lose each time and it selects for hard men/women and those who enjoy combat
7 Go to commentsThey might have won several different areas on the field but the one that ultimately counts is on the scoreboard. Ben Smith’s nonsense is still shown up for what it is following criticisings by his team’s coach claiming similar nonsenses and several other players as well. I am not an expert but I know All Blacks know that the game is won by the team with more points on the board than the opposition. Also the red card on Sam Cane is entirely his own fault. If they were aggrieved for having one less player on the pitch, that was their own fault, their own captain who possibly in a moment of forgetfulness tackled too high but either way it is a RWC Final, you cannot be having lapses of forgetfulness in a match like that. The fact that they were down a man for 64 minutes was their fault. And even if they did dominate the second half for 35 minutes, they had crossed the whitewash twice, they had several kicks at goal, the fact is they didn't maximize on all the opportunities they were given. The one try was disallowed, the two kicks at goal were missed, the opportunities not taken. Every tackle was made by the Springboks with so much more fervour than anyone had seen even in the Semi Final the week previously. Whatever Ben Smith says, most of what he says can be chalked down to a spoiled sport who has nothing better to say than whine and moan because ultimately the team he supports lost when it mattered most.
43 Go to commentsThere’s plenty I could write on this, I won’t stop if I really get going, so i’ll make just 2 important points. Don’t forget that SA didn’t have a hooker, don’t discount that fact. I would have taken MBONAMBI fit for the game over a yellow to Frizelle. Also you forget that NZ had the luxury of playing without pressure once the red came. Noone expected them to win and they could always fall back on 14 men if they lost. I’d also have taken 15 men NZ and MBONAMBI on the field over what transpired.
43 Go to commentsSome people in France say that JB Lafont have some problems with alcohol….
2 Go to commentsThis is awesome news. I hope he goes well.
1 Go to commentsI get that Ben's role is to attract SA readers with controversial clickbait, but what about respecting the rivalry of over 100 years? The Boks won, we lost. The Boks have now won 4 world cups since their inclusion back into international rugby, and in that time the rest of the world combined have only won 4! It's an incredible achievement. Show respect, and then hope we win 2-0 in SA later this year. But don't be a whiner; it means you don't understand the rivalry at its essence. Winner takes all when NZ plays SA. Sport in it's purest form. Long may it continue.
43 Go to commentsU Nz never ever use to be such a bunch off whining girls,now this so sad that u got this aasss writing some crap
43 Go to comments