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WATCH: Heartbreak for Ireland as final play leads to silver instead of gold

Ireland were left heartbroken in the final play of the Cup Final in Seville as Australia ran in a last-minute try to win the inaugural Spain 7s tournament.



Ireland were left heartbroken in the final play of the Cup Final in Seville as Australia ran in a last-minute try to win the inaugural Spain 7s tournament.

Both Ireland's men and women advanced to the semi-final stage of the first ever Sevens World Series tournament in Seville. This was only the second leg of the series to take place in Spain, after the Malaga sevens a week earlier.

Anthony Eddy's men's team fought hard to finish second in their pool, just behind Argentina, who had beaten them in the pool stages.

However, Ireland beat England 24-12 in their quarter-final on Saturday to advance to only their second ever cup semi-final, after London in 2018.

The men were faced with a near-impossible task in their semi-final, as they were up against the South Africa. The Blitzbokke have been unbeaten since 2020, and went on to win their sixth consecutive tournament, beating Australia in the final.

After a hard-fought bronze playoff, Argentina would eventually finish third. They beat Ireland 12-5 before the cup finalists ran out.

Final minute heartbreak

The Irish women, on the other hand, made it to their first ever Cup Final by beating England in the semi, by a massive 29-0.

Beibhinn Parsons was in top try-scoring form, as was Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, as the pair of speedsters were vital in ensuring that Ireland were unbeaten en route to the final.

Murphy Crowe is, in fact, the leading women's try-scorer of the season.

Ireland looked to be in the driver's seat early on, with Parsons getting them off to a flier.

However, Australia are the number one seeded women's team in the competition for a reason. A week earlier in Malaga, Ireland were narrowly beaten by Australia in the pool stages, and this weekend would be no different.

While the defensive work of Parsons, Murphy Crowe and their teammates was unmatched, Ireland eventually ran out of numbers, and Faith Nathan ran in the match-winning score in injury time.

The World Sevens Series will now take a break until after the Six Nations. The next tournament for the men will be in Singapore on the weekend of April 9-10th, while the women will be in Langford between April 30th and May 1st.

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7s Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe Australia Blitzbokke Ireland Ireland 7s Malaga 7s Rugby Sevens Rugby Seville Seville 7s South Africa