A gold medal in the European Games secured Great Britain’s women a place at the 2024 Olympic Sevens competition, but a silver medal for their men was not enough as they were beaten 26-12 by Ireland in the final.
It means they will have to win in the final qualification tournament taking place this time next year to earn the final spot at the games, having never failed to qualify before in the previous two editions Rugby Sevens has been an event.
For GB Women though, they have guaranteed a spot at a third-consecutive Olympics and will be hoping to build on two previous fourth-placed finishes with a first medal in Paris next year.
Co-captain Meg Jones said: “I’m so happy that our journey worked out, it’s a huge sense of relief that everything went to plan.
“We’ve been pushing the boundaries all year and we definitely pushed them there. I’m so buzzing for the girls – to have this experience and go out there and achieve what we just did is just a stepping stone in the right direction.
“Paris qualification is exactly what we came for and we’re leaving with it.”
Ireland’s women had already qualified for the games after securing the final qualification berth available in the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series as they secured a fifth-placed finish.
Four places were available from the series, and fifth was enough as hosts France – who had already earned automatic qualification – had finished in the top four.
GB Women finished a disappointing seventh, but as the highest-ranking European nation yet to qualify were dominant through the competition as they scored 250 points across their six games and conceded just 22.
Spain were the nation most likely to cause a significant threat to England, as the only other core Sevens Series nation in the competition, but after a dominant group stage of their own they were stunned by Czechia in the quarter-finals.
Poland were the only nation England had to face who had participated in the Sevens Series at all, with the Poles having made an appearance in Toulouse, but they beat them 33-0 in the final after Poland had knocked out Czechia in the semi-finals.
Ireland and Great Britain were largely untroubled en route to the final in the men’s competition, with only one other core nation from the Sevens Series in the form of Spain.
Spain were beaten by Great Britain 19-7 in the semi-finals, with the only other threat coming from Germany who were beaten by the same margin by Ireland, and were edged out 14-10 by GB in the quarterfinals.
In the final, Ireland showed why they had beaten Great Britain to eighth in the Sevens Series with a 26-12 to secure their place at the games, with Billy Dardis, Terry Kennedy and a brace from Jordan Conroy giving them the win in the Krakow final.
Coach James Topping said: “Qualifying for the Olympics is great and for us as a programme we want to expand the game and for the players it’s a chance to play at an Olympic Games. For us it’s the reward for what has been a pretty good season for us,” said Irish coach, former Ulster winger Topping.
“This is a sport that Irish people can excel at I think although it’s pretty tough. You have to be fast and aggressive and have the heart for it. The guys have jumped on the back of the success of the women last month and it’s fantastic for rugby in the country.”
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