As the Sevens rugby Olympic tournament began before the opening ceremony took place in Paris, the game found itself catching some early limelight without the blur of a full-blown schedule up and running.
With the Stade de France full and the women’s rugby tournament breaking a world record for attendance with the quarter-finals surging to 69,000 people, the sport made its presence felt. And that was all before French 15s captain Antoine Dupont was immortalised in the final with two tries and an assist against a Fijian team that had never lost a match in the Olympics.
For Ireland’s men it was a quarter-final exit. Better than the performance in Tokyo 2021, progress now would be a medal in Los Angeles 2028, and as Jordan Conroy sees it Ireland dovetailing with the World Sevens Series, a tournament that straddles the globe and in which the Irish Sevens team plays – but never at home.
Visibility being everything, a Sevens tournament in Dublin seems the logical next move.
“I think the next step would actually be getting a Dublin Sevens event into the country. I know it would take off,” says Conroy, one of Ireland’s most prolific try scorers. “It had been gaining more and more traction with the Olympics.
“We definitely have the facilities. We have the infrastructure. I know there is a little bit of politics in there. But I think having a stage in Dublin would be amazing. You see how the London [world series event] took off. I just know for a fact that Irish people love rugby and it doesn’t matter what form it comes in. You can bring your kids as well. It’s a fun day out, or two or three days.”
Although London drew large crowds and provided a party atmosphere, a report in the Daily Telegraph in July 2023 said Twickenham would not be included into a revamped Sevens world programme. New Zealand and France are also not part of the new package.
This season’s Sevens World Series will begin in December with the first five events taking place in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver and Hong Kong. If Paris was the coming-of-age event for the sport, aided by the Olympic springboard, Conroy believes that a Dublin event could provide a similar lift to the sport in this country.
“Definitely I think that a Dublin Sevens should be incorporated in the next couple of years. I don’t know how much work is involved but I would love to get involved and get it active. I know people would watch it. People are always saying it to us that Dublin should have one. People would travel. They love the country. They love the sport, so I don’t see why not.”
The 30-year-old will play in the World Series for another season but will take it year by year with a possible third Olympic appearance at Los Angeles 2028 too far away to make a call now. Conroy was injured in the pool stages in Paris and missed Ireland’s 19-15 quarter-final defeat by Fiji, a team they had beaten in Perth and Vancouver prior to the Games.
The new season and perhaps some TV work are his preferred pathways, whereas Hugo Keenan goes back to Leinster and Zac Ward joins Ulster for an extended trial until the autumn international window. Ward, the 25-year-old Ballynahinch forward, played an important role with Ireland in Paris, scoring four tries in the tournament.
There are not many Sevens players also playing the 15s version of the game at the highest level but the former sprint athlete thinks Ward will be a hit with Richie Murphy in Belfast.
“One hundred per cent. The sky’s the limit, and he has again and again shown his ability on the Sevens pitch,” says Conroy, speaking as an Allianz ambassador. “I don’t see why he can’t transfer that on to the 15s. I think he is one of the players this year that absolutely deserved it because he has been amazing for us. He has been, tournament after tournament, performing and performing, and it’s only right that he gets the opportunities to showcase his skill.”
Still in holiday mode after recovering from the injury where his right quad filled with fluid and kept him out of a trip to Ibiza with friends, December and the World Series seem far away. Then again that’s just the half of it.
“I will try and split my time outside of the rugby, 100 per cent I want to do more on television,” he says. “There is a calling for me in television, be it presenting, be it reality TV such as Man Up, 100 per cent want to do more of that.”
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