History made as two Ireland teams qualify for Rugby World Cup 7s

The Ireland Men's Sevens squad have joined their female counterparts in qualifying for next summer's Sevens Rugby World Cup in San Francisco - the first time this has been achieved by the IRFU Sevens programme.

The men made it through to San Francisco courtesy of a third place finish at the Exeter 7s, the final leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series. Their only defeat of the weekend saw them go down 15-12 to Wales in a closely-fought Cup semi-final, before they won their 3rd-4th place play-off against Portugal (33-12).

Ireland have competed in five previous Men's RWC Sevens tournaments - 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009 - with the Women's team making their Sevens World Cup bow four years ago in Moscow.