Meet the Ireland team – Men’s Sevens – The Irish Times

Niall Comerford

Age: 24

club:UCD

Previous Olympic Games: None

Born in Shankill, Dublin, the player initially enjoyed hurling and Gaelic football, which he excelled at and played for Kilmacud Crokes, while also enjoying football. It was only when he arrived in Blackrock that he took up rugby, starting as a flanker and ending up as a winger in the senior team. A scholarship student at UCD, he joined the Leinster Academy and played for Ireland under-20s before moving up to Sevens in 2020. At one point in a Leinster A game, the back three consisted of Comerford, Andrew Smith and Hugo Keenan, all three of whom would represent Ireland at the Paris Olympics.

Jordan Conroy

Age: 30

club: The Buccaneers

Previous Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020

Ireland’s first sevens superstar, the Munich native moved back in with his mother in Tullamore at the age of 10, a decision he recently spoke about, bravely speaking about being a child victim of domestic abuse at the hands of his stepfather. His blistering pace and prodigious try-scoring have earned him a glittering reputation on the sevens circuit, including his duels with American sprinters Carlin Isles and Perry Baker, among others. While he is no longer quite the focal point he once was, he has a remarkable knack for scoring important tries for his team and if they are to succeed in Paris, he will be a key figure.

Hugo Keenan

Age: 28

club:UCD, Leinster

Previous Olympic Games: None

Probably the best known of the Sevens squad due to his other role as a fullback for the XV and his participation in the World Cup last year. Keenan, along with other top players such as France’s Antoine Dupont, will give the competition a greater profile, but unlike Dupont, Keenan originally comes from Sevens. He was called up to the Ireland team camp in early 2017 and was part of the squad during the 2017 Sevens Grand Prix series. Leinster and Ireland in the longest form of the game was his bread and butter until this year when he opted for the Olympics and played in the Sevens Grand Final in Madrid at the end of May.

Jack Kelly

Age: 26

club: University of Dublin

Previous Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020

Kelly, as a teenager, trained with Joe Schmidt’s senior Ireland team ahead of the November 2016 Test series. A graduate of St Michael’s College and an Ireland Under-20 player, injury (shoulder and ankle) took its toll early on, although the Trinity student was offered a place at the Leinster Academy, making his senior debut in 2018. It was Anthony Eddy who spotted a skill set that would suit sevens rugby and he made the switch. A veteran of the disappointing Tokyo Olympics and a speedy fullback in the XVs, he is one of Ireland’s physical forwards in an area where everyone is fast. He had to put his legal career on hold to play in Paris.

Terry Kennedy

Age: 27

club: Sainte-Marie College

Previous Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020

Kennedy, who also competed at the Tokyo Olympics, has been playing rugby sevens since 2016. His father Terry was also an international in the 1970s and 1980s. Kennedy also played rugby sevens for Ireland Under-20s and St Mary’s College before switching to rugby sevens, where he excelled. Winner of the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year award, his try-scoring for Ireland has elevated him to the ranks of the best players in the world. He was also crowned the top try-scorer of the 2021-22 World Rugby Sevens Series and, after a long spell away in Australia, will be one of the players Ireland will look to for an edge and impact at the Stade de France.

Hugo Lennox

Age: 25

club:Skerries

Previous Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020

The Skerries RFC player made his sevens debut in 2018. A graduate of Maynooth University, he also works in real estate. But Paris has been the focus of attention following Ireland’s disappointing performance in Tokyo, where they finished 10th. Comparatively small and lightweight compared to the other players at 63kg, Lennox could almost qualify for Kellie Harrington’s lightweight division in boxing. The Irish scrum-half has been a constant figure in the team and has shown he knows where the line is, scoring twice for Ireland against Australia en route to Hong Kong Sevens bronze earlier this year.

Harry McNulty (captain)

Age: 31

club:UCD

Previous Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020

One of seven Olympians returning to the squad from Tokyo. A mainstay of the Sevens team since its inception in 2015, McNulty was first named captain for last year’s Dubai leg, replacing Billy Dardis who missed the Olympics through injury. A key forward, McNulty is Ireland’s go-to man for winning possession from kick-offs. Born in Bahrain and educated in the US, McNulty is well-known for his work off the field as a social media content creator. Prior to Sevens, he spent two years in Munster’s academy. He flirted with the XV in recent years when he played for the LA Giltinis before they were dropped from Major League Rugby.

Gavin Mullin

Age: 26

club:UCD

Previous Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020

A former Blackrock College pupil, the former Leinster centre is another regular in the Ireland Sevens squad. The son of 55-cap Irish centre and British and Irish Lion Brendan Mullin, Gavin played twice at senior level for his native province, making his debut against Zebre in 2018. Released from their academy in 2020, Mullin had considered giving up professional rugby but the IRFU invited him to the Sevens programme. He made his debut in a competition in the UK in 2020, where Ireland beat Great Britain and the USA, before playing in Tokyo a year later and retaining his place in Paris.

Chay Mullins

Age: 22

club: Galway Corinthians, Connacht

Previous Olympic Games: None

He made his debut on the Irish scene when he was identified by the Irish qualifying programme ahead of the 2022 Under-20 Six Nations. He played a key role on the wing during that Grand Slam-winning campaign before leaving his hometown of Bristol to join the Connacht academy. He made his Sevens debut for Ireland in Singapore shortly after that Six Nations. While the winger has since become a regular on the Sevens circuit, he is yet to play a senior XV game for the Western Province. That may well change, however, after Paris, given he has moved from an academy to a senior contract ahead of next season.

Mark Roche

Age: 31

club: Lansdowne

Previous Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020

Alongside McNulty, another ‘Sevens original’ has been involved with the programme since its inception in 2015. Another Blackrock College alumnus, Roche played for Ireland Under-20s in 2013 before switching to Sevens after professional opportunities at Leinster and Connacht proved hard to come by. Roche holds an AIL winners’ medal with Lansdowne. Approached while playing rugby union for his club, Roche attended the first Sevens trials at Santry and Lansdowne in 2015. After becoming a father last month with the birth of his son, Cooper, Roche spoke of his attempts to secure a passport for his newborn in time to see him in Paris.

Andre Smith

Age: 23

club:Clontarf, Connacht

Previous Olympic Games: None

One of the returning players from the 15s alongside Hugo Keenan, Smith has played 13 times in the Connacht defence this season after leaving his native Leinster. A former Leinster academy player and Ireland Under-20 international, Smith won an AIL title with Clontarf in 2022. That same year, he toured with Emerging Ireland on their trip to South Africa. Before starting his senior 15s career with Connacht, Smith was a key part of the Sevens programme, making his first appearance in 2021. He was a member of the squad that won bronze at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Zac Ward

Age: 25

club:Ballyahinch

Previous Olympic Games: None

The only Ulsterman in the squad, Ward is also the son of a former Irish XV international. Former Ulster flanker Andy Ward earned 28 international caps and was part of the province’s 1999 European Cup-winning side. Zac’s younger brother Bryn has featured regularly for the Irish Under-20s this year. Zac, who first joined the programme in 2021, was named Ireland’s Sevens Player of the Year at the 2024 Rugby Players Ireland Awards. The Ballynahinch native was named in the dream team for the Los Angeles leg of this year’s World Series after Ireland’s third-place finish earned them back-to-back medals for the first time.