The Ireland Women Sevens squad have secured silverware on their first ever foray to the Hong Kong Sevens even, winning the Bowl final against an International Selection 28-0.
Ireland kicked off the day against South Africa and were leading right up to the last seconds. A late score saw the South Africans edge the game 17-14.
Ireland’s second game was against France and with a little fatigue creeping in – seven of the squad were in Milan last Sunday for the Grand Slam – the girls in green went down 17-9.
Next up was a play-off against the host team Hong Kong and with spirits revived and despite the day heating up they progressed on a scoreline of 33-5.
The Bowl final, against an International Selection, was played in the high heat of the afternoon – very different from the rain and cold in Milan last weekend.
Tries from Jenny Murphy and Lynne Cantwell and two conversions from Claire Keohane saw the Irish team race into a 14 – 0 lead by half-time.
Alison Miller added to her impressive try-scoring haul with the 15-a-side team, early in the second half, and Keohane again converted.
Then to put the icing on the cake Keohane got in for a fourth try and added the conversion to give Ireland a 28-0 win and silverware on their visit to Hong Kong.
Speaking after the game, Ireland captain Jeannette Feighery said: “This is a good start for us. We have a benchmark now to measure ourselves against. We have a lot of work to do before China next week but we are pleased to win the Bowl final.”
The Ireland Women’s Sevens squad, coached by Jon Skurr, travel to Guanghzou next week for the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series event.
