History was made this morning in front of a sell-out crowd at the inaugural Perth SVNS as Ireland claimed a first ever rugby sevens victory on the world stage.
Ireland overcame hosts and current SVNS leaders, Australia in an epic final, winning 19-14 to get their hands on the trophy for the very first time.
This was a magnificent win, not just for Ireland, but for Laois as well, with Portarlington’s Alanna Fitzpatrick part of the 14-woman squad.
19-year-old Fitzpatrick, who is part of PortDara Falcons Rugby Club, made her sevens debut for the Ireland at the Rugby European Sevens Championship Series in Germany last July.
In front of the biggest rugby crowd in Perth since 2017, Ireland claimed their first series win in only their second final, ending a 29-game losing streak to Australia in the process.
Australia opened the scoring with a lovely try, but Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe hit back immediately before Lucy Mulhall put Ireland in front.
It was all Australia at the start of the second half and the hosts eventually equalised.
But Ireland weren’t to be denied.
Eve Higgins scored from a sustained attack towards the end of the game, and they held out to make history.
Ireland leap to fourth in the overall SVNS standings, with Australia still well clear at the top.
The HSBC SVNS 2024 is in Vancouver, Canada for the next event in the series, on the weekend of 23-25 February.
Australia are widely regarded as they best women’s sevens team in the world, so to beat them in a final on their own patch is quite the achievement.
This was a hugely significant victory on many fronts.
Ireland are heading to the Paris 2024 Olympic this summer and a win like this over the world’s best team will give serious confidence and momentum to the team and Head Coach, Alan Temple-Jones.
Ireland also overcame Fiji in the quarter-finals – another side considered one of the sport’s absolute best.
The anticipation is rising ahead of Paris, where Ireland (and Alanna Fitzpatrick) are on course to challenge for a medal.
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