The Ireland Men’s Sevens side has finished 10th in the Sevens tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Head coach Anthony Eddy’s team were the first Irish rugby side to represent Team Ireland at the Olympics.
Eddy’s men suffered a big loss to Kenya on Wednesday morning in the ninth-place final, losing 22-0 to the Shujaa after beating them less than 24 hours previous.
The match did not get off to the best start for captain Billy Dardis and his squad with a cagey start being interrupted by a Kenyan try to kick-start proceedings.
Kenya captain Andrew Amonde retired after the game and his teammates made sure to play their hearts out to send him off into the sunset riding a high.
Hohnstone Olindi opened the scoring for his country and the conversion was scored.
The side held onto their slim lead until halftime, putting them in prime position to earn ninth.
Jacob Ojee scored his side’s second try and put the result beyond doubt for anyone watching.
Ireland’s handling and concentration were once again below the level that was expected of them coming into this tournament.
Two more tries followed for the Kenyans but they were merely icing on the cake that symbolised a strong performance and revenge against the side that beat them on Wednesday morning.
Amonde was visibly emotional after the final whistle as his career came to an end.
Ireland ends their campaign with a win record of 40% (2W, 3L) and valuable experience at the Olympics that will help them on their push towards Paris 2024.
It was a subpar tournament for Eddy’s side and one that his players were clearly disappointed with after the Pool C game against Kenya.
However, they can hold their heads high knowing that they’ve once again grown as a side and taken the Sevens programme in Ireland to new heights – a trend that they will continue to follow.
