In a 19-14 match, the Ireland women’s rugby 7s team defeated the Australian team to claim their first World Series title in the Ireland Rugby Sevens programme on Sunday, January 28. This comes two years after the Irish team was defeated by Australia in Seville two years ago.

Australia, who had been the series leader all season, was shocked by the upset. After their 31-7 win against Great Britain the team was on a roll.

Ireland took the lead when Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Lucy Mulhall both touched down during the first half. Australia fought back once the game restarted but it was not enough for the title as Ireland responded effectively.

Béibhinn Parsons was able to get through into the opposition 22 as Aoibheann Reilly fed Eve Higgins the ball on the left wing. She was able to shrug off an attempted tackle from Isabella Nasser and then score.

In the end of the second half, Mulhall pushed her conversion wide. Then when Reilly got the ball out of the scrum, she was able to pass it along to her skipper who was then able to kick the ball dead and cap, leading the team to victory.

Our @Ireland7s Women stunned hosts Australia to win their first ever HSBC SVNS Series tournament, striking gold in sun-drenched Perth this morning ⬇️#Ireland7s

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) January 28, 2024

The Irish men's team also saw success when they conquered Fiji 24-7 to win 3rd place in the play-offs. They claimed this victory even with their captain Harry McNulty who was out with an injury.

Both of these results uplift the Irish teams as the 2024 Olympic in Paris comes closer and closer. This will be the debut for the women in the Olympic games while the men will be competing for the second time since they first played in Tokyo in 2020.

The sevens series will continue through the next few months. The teams will start again with a double-header in Vancouver and Los Angeles.