Ireland: ‘It’s just getting into the groove of all that again’

Ireland – and Bryan Mollen – breathed a huge sigh of relief in the Far East on Friday after a hard-fought 12-7 win over Samoa prevented a disastrous opening day from happening to them at the Hong Kong 7s.

The Irish opened their campaign with a morning defeat against South Africa, a team they had beaten in the pool stages on the previous two legs of the HSBC SVNS circuit in Vancouver and Los Angeles.

Those results led to the South Africans making a change to the management and a rejuvenated team now under the command of Philip Snyman burst into life, scoring twice off scrum ball and then through possession following a no-release penalty to lead 17-0 at the break.

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They then added to that advantage shortly into the second half with a fourth try before the Irish charged back into the contest, their fightback to a 17-22 losing bonus point defeat assisted by the sending of South Africa’s Justin Geduld for a high tackle.

That left Ireland needing to pull it out of the bag against the Samoans and they eventually got over the line, second-half tries from Terry Kennedy and Zac Ward rescuing them after they had trailed 0-7 at the break.

"You can only defend for so long…"

– The Harry McNulty verdict on Ireland losing 17-22 to South Africa in their pool, from Liam Heagney ?? in Hong Kong. #HK7s @IrishRugby #HSBCSVNS @SVNSSeries @OfficialHK7s

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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 5, 2024

With their remedial job done, Ireland huddled at the bottom of the tunnel in the Hong Kong Stadium for a rallying pep talk before Mollen put into words the defiance that enabled them to stay in the trophy hunt ahead of Saturday’s final pool game versus Spain.

“We said we have just got to keep believing in ourselves,” explained Mollen to RugbyPass. “We put in two slow starts where we kept coughing up the ball. If we have the trust to hold onto that ball and put teams through it, we know we will come out on the right side.

“So it’s just getting into the groove of all that again… we just say, ‘Keep hanging onto that ball and keep working together and we will be alright’.”

Knock-ons and penalties hurt in those repeat slow starts. “It’s a bit of humidity, all that kind of stuff, a bounce of a ball at times. We were just not switched on but in that game there (against Samoa), we managed to turn it around.

“The subs coming on managed to click a little bit better, same as we did against South Africa. We just left it a bit too late. They put 22 points and it’s hard to come back from that.”

For Mollen, a try-scorer off the bench against South Africa, being back in Hong Kong for the first time in five years has been a thrill. “I have missed a few this year, I got injured once or twice and a bit of rotation as well.

“I’m just happy to come back. It’s my first time back in Hong Kong since we qualified in 2019 so it means the world to me and I’m happy every time I can put on an Irish jersey. It means the world.”

Ireland were well supported on day one in Hong Kong. “It’s huge. Just having as many green jerseys as we can see in the stand gives us that extra little buzz and that little lift that we need.

“We get great support anywhere in the world we go, and Hong Kong is so special because there is always a load of Irish that come out for us.”

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"We're just not fully switched on but…"

– Bryan Mollen on the slow starts that Ireland have battled this Friday, from Liam Heagney ?? in Hong Kong. #HK7s #HSBCSVNS #IrishRugby @SVNSSeries @OfficialHK7s

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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 5, 2024