For all the talk of the Irish medal hopes in Paris, the men’s Rugby Sevens are unique in knowing theirs will be decided before the Games officially begin. Kicking off under the radar perhaps, and Jordan Conroy wouldn’t have it any other way.
One of seven of the 12 squad members returning from Tokyo, Conroy knows exactly what to expect and what not to. They head to Paris on Saturday from their training camp in Tours, with their opening Group A games against South Africa and Japan set for the Stade de France next Wednesday evening. Their final game against New Zealand and potential quarter-final are set for the Thursday evening.
After the opening ceremony along the Seine river on the Friday, the medal games will be decided back inside the State de France on the Saturday evening. Getting to that stage is the only thing on Conroy’s mind, and the sooner they get there the better.
“You kind of get away from the madness in a way, just get in early, get out early,” says Conroy. “That’s the way I see it. It’s just that waiting as well, knowing you still have to compete when you see other athletes finishing. You just want to get it done and sometimes, not for us, but maybe for other athletes, that wait can cause anxiety because you want to get going. I suppose it’s a blessing starting early.
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“Going in as well, we’re not going to be overwhelmed. We know what to expect. I’m there to compete now. We’ve all been to Paris before, we’ve played there, we’ve gone there on holiday. It’s not like we need to see the Eiffel Tower again. I’m not being smart, but that’s the way I’m looking at it.”
The top two teams from each of the three groups, plus the two best third-placed teams, progress to the quarter-finals, and a win there would leave Ireland just another win away from a medal. Having made Sevens history by beating New Zealand for the first time last December, then narrowly losing the Series final in June, they won’t fear their opening opponents, only respect them.
New Zealand lost the Tokyo final to Fiji, the back-to-back Olympic champions. They share Pool C with another of the medal favourites, host nation France, with a certain Antoine Dupont on board.
“It was going to be a tough pool anyway,” Conroy says of Ireland’s opposition. “And we’ve taken a lot of confidence from playing these teams throughout the season, to know that we have the ability to win these games. And it comes under the who’s hungrier? So we’re literally just focusing on what we can do to win those games.
“When I think of us, we’ve obviously got three more years’ experience [from the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021] on top of the players we were back by then.”
They also have a certain Hugo Keenan on board.
“He’s done pretty well in the short amount of time he’s been playing, and his confidence has been building and building.”
As, it seems, have their medal prospects.
