The Irish men’s squad that finished the season in second place in the SVNS rugby series has an eye on the podium in France
three years ago through the repechage, but at that time Keenan was still cementing his place in Andy Farrell’s squad. Then, Olympic rugby was not a priority aim.
Selection is a brutal process but as coach and former Irish winger Topping sees it, everyone is equally entitled to aspire to playing and winning an Olympic medal. Just because Keenan is an outstanding fullback should not exclude him from aspiring to be an Olympic Sevens player too. “Probably my biggest worry was would it disrupt the team dynamic? Would there be a bit of pushback from players? I had no doubt around the attitude and the competence of those two players, but my concern was there had been guys going well this year, we’d made every quarter-final past that in the World Series and got lots of medals this year, no golds unfortunately.
Irish Rugby Women's Seven’s Squad Training, IRFU High Performance Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin 18/6/2024 Vikki Wall Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo “Once they saw Hugo playing and saw what he can do. For someone who literally came off the plane having played in a European Cup and hopped on a six o’clock flight the following morning, it shows the commitment that he’s put in.”
In a much-heralded switch, Wall, an All-Ireland winner and Footballer of the Year with Meath and AFL payer with North Melbourne, only moved to the oval ball game last September in a bid to make it to Paris. Temple-Jones, however, believes, that while she did not succeed this time, Wall’s future with the Irish squad has not come to an end.
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