A bright start for Ireland in their first game of the Olympic Sevens tournament in Stade de France gave them the win they were looking for in the team’s second ever Olympic Games, writes Johnny Watterson.
A two-try strike against the South African Blitzboks with one late try in reply was enough for the Irish side, who had the lion’s share of possession throughout the match.
Not much time to take a breath in Sevens! The match report for that game from Johnny Watterson will be coming soon. And come back here for Ireland against Japan for Ireland’s second game, kicks off at 8pm.
14 mins: Try for South Africa! Davids finds a gap and makes significant ground for South Africa. Nice play by him and Specman and Specman uses his pace to lay off for Davids to score.
FULL-TIME: Ireland 10 South Africa 5
Davids kicks it off but doesn’t get 10 metres. Ireland penalty and it’s game over. Job done for Team Ireland.
12 mins: TMO check for a high tackle by Oosthuizen. Yellow card for South Africa! He will be off for two minutes.
TRY FOR IRELAND! Kennedy shows his class with a great sidestep, completely beats Williams and down to touch down on the wing.
Ireland 10 South Africa 0
10 mins: Try chance for South Africa! Out of nothing Ireland lose the lineout and quick ball from South Africa. A clever kick in behind but South Africa’s Nortje knocks on before the line. A warning for Ireland.
Ireland 5 South Africa 0
9 mins: Second half kicks off. Finally some defending to do for Ireland as South Africa get line-out inside the 22. Ireland win a penalty in the breakdown, Hugo Lennox turns over the ball.
Ireland 5 South Africa 0
7 mins: TRY FOR IRELAND! South Africa clear and Ireland go again but no way through. The buzzer comes, but Ireland keep it alive and a great offload by Zac Ward to Conroy. This time he scores easily.
Half-time: Ireland 5 South Africa 0
Ireland must have have 90 per cent possession there. Finally got the score at the end of the half.
6 mins: Try for Ireland ruled out!
Ireland force a knock-on in the scrum, Roche showing his strength. South Africa have barely touched the ball this half but no Irish score yet. Zac Ward makes a powerful break and then some good passing sees Conroy through under pressure. Grounds the ball a foot before the line and it’s no try and a scrum to South Africa.
Ireland 0 South Africa 0
4 mins: Ireland slowly edging up the pitch. Chance then! Clever grubber kick through by Kennedy, and runs after it but just can’t get to the ball in time and goes out the endline.
Ireland 0 South Africa 0
2 mins: The kickoff goes straight to Ireland who build up and win an early penalty. Roche throws the ball in and a clean take, all Ireland possession but no breakthrough yet.
Ireland 0 South Africa 0
The Ireland team has been named.
Ireland team to play South Africa: Harry McNulty (captain), Mark Roche, Zac Ward, Jordan Conroy, Hugo Keenan, Terry Kennedy, Niall Comerford.
Replacements: Jack Kelly, Andrew Smith, Chay Mullins, Hugo Lennox, Gavin Mullin.
Here is the South Africa team:
More qualified than me, or than just about anyone else, to talk about rugby is John O’Sullivan and he has a handy everything you need to know guide.
[ All you need to know about Olympic Rugby SevensOpens in new window ]
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first game of the Olympics for the Ireland Rugby Sevens team, against South Africa in Paris. It kicks off at 4.30pm. Later Ireland will play Japan at 8pm. Lasting just 14 minutes, it is a quick-fire way to play rugby. Hugo Keenan is a part of the squad as a familiar face. Ireland need to finish in the top two or as one of the two third-placed teams with the most points (from three pools) to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The biggest differences from the 15-a-side team is that conversions are drop-goal attempts, no kicking from the tee, scrums contested by three forwards and yellow cards mean two minutes in the sinbin. In a tricky group, Ireland are playing New Zealand tomorrow.
There are three pools of four teams. Each team plays the other countries in their pool over the first two days of the tournament. The top two teams in each pool qualify for the quarter-final along with the two best third-placed teams. The teams are ranked one to eight for the quarter-final draw. The four teams eliminated at the pool stage go into a consolation tournament where they are joined by the four quarter-final losers.
