FIVE-TRY IRELAND marched into the men’s final at the Rugby Sevens Europe Championship with an emphatic win over Germany in Sunday morning’s semis. Tries from Nick Greene, Bryan Mollen, Connor O’Sullivan, Hugo Lennox and Josh Costello sealed an impressive 31-7 win in Makarska, Croatia. Sam Myers’ side will now take on France in Sunday evening’s final [6.
30pm Irish time, Rugby Europe TV]. Ireland hit the front within three minutes when Hugo Keenan found Greene on his shoulder, the Garryowen man breaking through the German tackle to score. Irish skipper Mollen was dominant at the breakdown, and he started and finished the move that led to Ireland’s second try, forcing the initial turnover penalty and then powering over from close range after Keenan was stopped just short.
Lennox converted for a 12-0 lead, and then pulled the strings for Ireland’s third on the stroke of half time, floating a beautiful pass for O’Sullivan to score in the corner, Lennox adding a tricky conversion to send Ireland in at the break 19-0 up. Makonnen Amekuedi gave Germany a lifeline early in the second half with a brilliant turn of pace, cutting the deficit to 19-7. But Ireland quickly resumed their dominance, Lennox running in unopposed from 80 metres after some superb Irish counter-rucking forced the ball loose, before Costello wriggled free of Niklas Koch’s tackle to run in Ireland’s fifth under the posts.
Earlier on Sunday, Ireland Women lost 10-5 to Czechia in the fifth-to-eight.
