Olympian reflects on Ireland’s second-last finish at Dubai Sevens

Olympian Mark Roche admits there are “lessons to be learned” after Ireland’s disappointing performance at the season-opening HSBC SVNS Series event in Dubai. With a new-look squad taking the field in the UAE, it proved to be a tough weekend under the sun for the Irish men.

Ireland were one of the top contenders on the SVNS Series last season after finishing the round-robin in second place on the standings. They didn’t quite get things right at the Grand Final event in Madrid or the Olympics and have since ushered in the dawn of a new era.

Tadhg Brophy, James Dillon, Nicky Greene, Joshua Kenny, and Rory Woods all debuted on the SVNS Series last weekend, with those men all showing signs of promise in the iconic green jersey, but the team as a whole didn’t quite hit the mark on either day of competition.

 

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Ireland started their season with a tough 17-22 loss to rivals Great Britain before also falling to newly promoted Uruguay 14-26 and Argentina 29-7. They finished last in Pool B and were left to scrap it out in the bottom four with Uruguay, the USA and Kenya.

The Irish scored an early try through SVNS Series veteran Jordan Conroy in their ninth-place semi-final loss to Kenya, but they ended their campaign with a seven-point win over the USA. That triumph over the Americans was the difference between them and a last-place finish.

“It’s actually really good, we’ve gelled quite well,” Roche said on RugbyPass TV’s HSBC Life On Tour before this weekend’s tournament in Cape Town.

“At the start of pre-season, we had three training camps against GB, Germany and Spain. We’ve played a lot of games so we’re well used to each other and there’s a few lads from last year as well.

“There’s lessons to be learned from last week.

“The boys are excited.”

With former captain Harry McNulty retiring – and actually hosting this RugbyPass TV show – and Sevens Player of the Year nominee Terry Kennedy not taking the field, there was an inexperienced mix to this Irish side who will look to build on that tough tournament.

Ireland have been drawn in Pool C along with tournament hosts South Africa and last season’s League Winners Argentina in an incredibly tough pool. Only the top team from this phase of the competition will move on to the semis, with each pool reduced to three teams for this event.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Irish.

But, that’s the nature of sevens. Every group can be looked at as a ‘pool of death’ as each side battles it out for a semi-final berth, or crucial points in the ranking matches. The fact they had to leave Dubai in the early hours of Monday morning just adds to the theatre of it all.

As McNulty revealed, Ireland would’ve gotten on a flight at about 3:50 am in the morning, which is mere hours after the men’s Cup Final at the Dubai Sevens. But the party must go on, with players fighting the urge to sleep to ensure they get on the plane set for Cape Town, South Africa.

“It’s rough, it’s rough, no lie,” Roche admitted.

“You just play a tournament and then you’re pretty much packing and then into the airport and I’m there falling asleep at the airport waiting for the gate to open.

“It’s tough, it’s tough.

“I’m not much of a sleeper now but I got a few hours, the old age kicks in.”

Catch up on the action from the HSBC SVNS Series live on RugbyPass TV, which you can sign up for HERE.