Sevens journey has been far from easy but double Olympic qualification can bring sport to new audience, writes CiaranKennedy_
“WHEN DAVID NUCIFORA came into the programme, he set it up. None of this would have been possible without him.”
There will be a feel-good atmosphere around the IRFU offices today and nobody will be more pleased than performance director David Nucifora. The Sevens project has been his baby since he joined the Union in 2014, the Australian making it a priority to relaunch a men’s programme which had been inactive for five years and pump more resources into the women’s team.
In 2019, they entered the World Series as a core team, giving them frequent exposure to the best sides around. In late 2021, they qualified for the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics by beating France in the final of the Olympic qualification repechage in Monaco. For the women’s team, it will be a totally new experience. After the bitter disappointment of not making it to Tokyo, they sealed qualification for Paris with victory at the Toulouse Sevens event in May.
The 15s have also suffered due to some players moving between the two squads. As Greg McWilliams’ team struggled through this year’s Six Nations, the likes of Beibhinn Parsons, Lucy Mulhall, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Eve Higgins were all unavailable due to Sevens commitments.
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