Limerick rugby players chase Olympic spot

Colm Kinsella

Reporter:

Colm Kinsella

Young Munster's flying winger Diarmuid McCarthy is named in the Ireland Sevens squad which competes in the Europe Olympic Repechage tournament in Lisbon this weekend
FIVE Limerick-based players have been included in the Ireland mens and womens sevens squads who will aim to keep their 2016 Olympic dreams alive by securing qualifying places at this weekend’s Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage tournament in Lisbon.

FIVE Limerick-based players have been included in the Ireland mens and womens sevens squads who will aim to keep their 2016 Olympic dreams alive by securing qualifying places at this weekend’s Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage tournament in Lisbon.

The Young Munster duo of Diarmuid McCarthy and Gearoid Lyons, along with Alex Wootton, of Garryowen, have been named in the mens squad, while the UL-Bohemian pair of Claire Keohane and Louise Galvin have been included in the women’s squad for the trip to Portugal.

Both mens and womens teams must finish in the tournament’s top three sides to qualify for next year’s World Olympic Repechage, which will determine the final teams to travel to Rio 2016.

The Ireland men’s team will compete in Pool A this Saturday alongside Georgia, Italy and Russia, with the knockout stages taking place on Sunday.

Ireland’s women, captained by Lucy Mulhall, will compete in Pool B on Saturday alongside Belgium, Romania and Ukraine, with the knockout stages taking place on Sunday.

The tournament from Lisbon will be streamed live www.rugbyeurope.eu throughout the weekend