Parsons set for Olympics but Reilly and McGann miss out
Béibhinn Parsons from Ballinasloe has been selected on the Ireland women’s rugby sevens squad which will compete at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
However, Aoibheann Reilly’s hopes of representing Ireland in the 2024 Olympic Games have been crushed by a serious injury blow.
Reilly from Creagh suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury while competing for the Ireland women’s sevens rugby squad in Madrid earlier this month.
An ACL injury is one of the most feared for any sportsperson - as it always spells a lengthy period on the sidelines - and the timing of this injury is particularly unfortunate for Reilly.
Aoibheann is a daughter of Fionnuala and Stephen Reilly, and her brother Colm has played for the Athlone-based Buccaneers club and he currently plays for Connacht. Interestingly, both Aoibheann and Colm generally play in the scrum-half position in 15-a-side rugby.
The injury is a cruel twist of fate for Reilly and the same type of injury has been a key factor in Athlone’s Anna McGann also missing out on her dream of representing Ireland in the Olympics.
McGann’s hopes of involvement had been raised when she recovered from a long-term knee injury to feature for the Ireland sevens squad in the HSBC Grand Final in Madrid recently.
Moydrum native McGann was part of the Ireland squad which secured Olympic qualification in Toulouse in May 2023, but disaster struck two weeks later when she ruptured her cruciate ligament
She showed admirable determination to battle back from that serious injury, but her lack of game time compared to other squad members is probably the chief factor in her missing out.
The men’s squad includes Jordan Conroy, the Tullamore native who has previously starred for Buccaneers.
It will be Conroy’s second Olympics, having also represented Ireland in Tokyo in 2021 (the 2020 Olympics was delayed for a year due to the Covid-10 pandemic).
The Olympic Federation of Ireland officially selected the men’s and women’s sevens teams earlier this week.
Harry McNulty will captain the men’s team, which recently finished second in the World Series.
Lucy Rock (formerly Mulhall) has been named as the captain of the women’s team that qualified for their first Olympic Games this summer.
The most renowned name on the men’s squad is Hugo Keenan, a key figure in Ireland’s 15-a-side team and the regular full-back on the Six Nations-winning team earlier this year.
Ireland Men’s Sevens Team: Niall Comerford, Jordan Conroy (Tokyo Olympian), Hugo Keenan, Jack Kelly (Tokyo Olympian), Terry Kennedy (Tokyo Olympian), Hugo Lennox (Tokyo Olympian), Harry McNulty (Tokyo Olympian), Gavin Mullin (Tokyo Olympian), Chay Mullins, Mark Roche (Tokyo Olympian), Andrew Smith, Zac Ward. Travelling reserves: Bryan Mollen (Tokyo Olympian), Sean Cribbin
Ireland Women’s Sevens Team: Kathy Baker, Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Alanna Fitzpatrick, Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins, Erin King, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Emily Lane, Ashleigh Orchard, Béibhinn Parsons, Lucy Rock. Travelling reserves: Claire Boles, Amy Larn.