Dubai Sevens: Ireland will face Kenya in the quarter-finals of the Bowl competition in the Dubai Sevens today after finishing third in Pool D at the end of the first day of the opening tournament in this season's IRB World Series.
The Irish side finished the the first day level on pool points with Portugal after drawing with the Iberian side in the final match of the pool. But on points difference Ireland were marginally better than Portugal and so secured the third place.
"We only just scraped the third spot but overall we were content with the way we performed" said Ireland manager George Spotswood.
He added : "The big match for us was against Portugal. They were seeded above us and to draw with them represented an improvement for us."
Outstanding for Ireland in their three matches yesterday were the Ian Humphreys, the brother of Ireland's David Humphreys and rugged forward Mike McComish.
Ireland, missing from the international circuit for several seasons, showed they are back in business with a good performance in their 38-17 defeat to former World champions, Fiji in their opening match.
Belfast Harlequin Humphreys ran in an unconverted try but three scores by the fast-running Fijians and then a try before the interval by McComish (converted by Humphreys) left Ireland trailing 19-12.
A second-half try by Mark Bruce confirmed Ireland's scoring ability but three touchdowns from Fiji gave the Pacific islanders victory by 21 points.
Arguably Ireland's toughest game was against the Dubai title holders, South Africa.
In the event the Springboks, displaying power and pace, ran in five tries, all converted, to win 35-12, Ireland's scores coming from James Norton, and Tomas O'Leary.
Then against Portugal, Ireland led 7-5 at the interval with a try by McComish and the conversion by Humphreys, before adding an unconverted score from David Hewitt for a 12-12 draw.
Elsewhere England won Pool B with Scotland finishing in second place after the two countries had fought a close contest with only one score separating the sides at the final whistle.
England will meet Australia in the quarter-finals of the Emirates Trophy competition while Scotland have the unenviable task of taking on the tournament favourites and current world champions, New Zealand.
IRELAND SQUAD: Gary Brown (Ulster/Belfast Harlequins), Mark Bruce (Loughborough University), John Hearty (Munster/Blackrock), David Hewitt (Leinster/Clontarf), Ian Humphreys (Belfast Harlequins), Seamus Mallon (Ulster/Dungannon), Mike McComish (Ballymena), Martin McPhail (Munster /Bohemians), James Norton (Leinster/UCD), Niall O'Brien (Connacht), Tom O'Leary (Dolphin), Niall Ronan (Leinster/Lansdowne).
