Ireland's Women's and Men's Sevens aim to keep their 2016 Olympic dreams alive as squads for this weekend's Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage tournament in Lisbon were named. Both teams must finish in the tournament top three to qualify for next year's World Olympic Repechage, which will determine the final teams to travel to Rio 2016.
Ireland's women, captained by Lucy Mulhall, will compete in Pool B on Saturday alongside Belgium, Romania and Ukraine, with the knockout stages taking place on Sunday.
Meanwhile the men, captained by Tom Daly, will compete in Pool A on Saturday alongside Georgia, Italy and Russia, with the knockout stages taking place on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of the tournament Anthony Eddy, IRFU Director of Rugby Sevens, said: "Both squads have developed well and this weekend will be a real test as they face up to some of the best teams in Europe.”
"This tournament is arguable the most important one of the season so far for both teams, and with a place at the World Olympic Repechage the prize for a top three finish I am sure they will give everything they have.”
Women's captain, Lucy Mulhall, said, "We have been training well and made steady progress this season so we hope to put all that work into practice this weekend as we target a spot at next year's World Olympic Repechage, where we hope to compete for a place at Rio 2016.”
Men's captain, Tom Daly said, "This is a great opportunity for us to measure ourselves against some of the best sevens teams in Europe. We are an ambitious team and our preparation, training and tournament experience to date have been great, but we recognise that this will be a significant step-up in terms of standards. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work we hope to secure one of the three spots available for the World Olympic Repechage next year.”
Ireland Women's Sevens Squad (Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage, Lisbon, 18 - 19 July)
Audrey O' Flynn (TID)
Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union/Leinster)
Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Eimear Considine (TID)
Ashleigh Baxter (Cook/ Ulster)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/ Leinster)
Claire Keohane (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Lucy Mulhall (Rathdrum) Capt
Claire Molloy (Bristol/ Connacht)
Louise Galvin (UL Bohemian/ Munster)
Alison Miller (Portlaoise/ Connacht)
Emma Murphy (Railway Union/Leinster)
Pool A: Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Spain
Pool B: Belgium, Ireland, Romania, Ukraine
Pool C: Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden
Ireland Women's Sevens Fixtures
Saturday, 18th July
Pool B -
Ireland v Romania, 11.22am local /10.22am Irish
Ireland v Belgium, 2.22pm local /1.22pm Irish
Ireland v Ukraine, 6.28pm local /5.28pm Irish
Sunday, 19th July
Play-Offs
Ireland Men's Sevens Squad (Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage, Lisbon, 18 - 19 July)
Adam Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
Aaron Cairns (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Tom Daly (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt)
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Shane Layden (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Gearoid Lyons (Young Munster/Munster)
Diarmaid McCarthy (Young Munster/Munster)
David McGuigan (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Harry McNulty (UCD/Leinster)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Alex Wootton (Garryowen/Munster)
Steve Toal-Lennon (St Mary's College/Leinster)
Pool A: Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Russia
Pool B: Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania
Pool C: Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Ukraine
Ireland Men's Sevens Fixtures
Saturday, 18th July
Pool A -
Russia v Ireland, 11:00am local /10.00am Irish
Georgia v Ireland, 3:06pm local /2.06pm Irish
Italy v Ireland, 5.00pm local /4.00pm Irish
Sunday, 19th July
Play-Offs
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
