Vikki Wall in action for Ireland in Perth this morning. **Photo @Ireland7s on X**

Wall makes rugby debut as Ireland advance to semi-finals

Fergal Lynch

Published: Sat 27 Jan 2024, 1:00 PM

Vikki Wall made her debut for Ireland at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Perth this morning as she helped her country reach the semi-finals of the HSBC SVNS Series’ Australian leg.

Ireland will play Great Britain in the semi-final tomorrow after progressing through their group as runners-up.

Wall made her debut as Ireland closed out the pool phase with a 26-7 win over Japan where Béibhinn Parsons scored a hat-trick of tries.

Allan Temple-Jones’ charges then earned a gripping 14-12 Cup quarter-final victory over a tenacious Fijian outfit, having closed out the first half with converted scores from Eve Higgins and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe.

The result means they are set for their first top four finish since Sydney last January. Great Britain, who edged out Canada 7-0, will be their semi-final opponents tomorrow at 12.22pm local time/4.22am Irish time – live on RugbyPass TV. Hosts Australia and the USA will meet in the other last-four clash.

Vikki Wall's Meath team mate Orlagh Lally (second from right) was in Perth to lend support along with the Fremantle Dockers other Irish players Áine Tighe, Aisling McCarthy, Amy Mulholland, and Joanne Cregg

Ireland resumed their HSBC SVNS season yesterday with two impressive performances against higher-ranked opponents in sun-drenched Perth.

Megan Burns ran in a 12th-minute match-winning try as Ireland triumphed 19-14 to end a six-match losing run against the USA, which stretched back to the Dubai 7s in December 2022.

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe touched down in both of their opening Pool C games, handing them an early lead against New Zealand who went on to win 21-14. Replacement Aoibheann Reilly’s late try gave Ireland a deserved losing bonus point.

It is the first time they have scored two tries against the Black Ferns Sevens since the 2019 Cup quarter-final in Glendale, and left them level on four points with the USA in the table ahead of the final group game against Japan.

You can watch all of the HSBC SVNS Series action for free on RugbyPass TV, while there is coverage of Ireland’s progress in Perth across the new @Ireland7s social media channels and in our Ireland Sevens hub: irishrugby.ie/ireland7s.

This is the first time that the Women’s Series has staged an Australian leg outside of Sydney, with all five previous HSBC SVNS tournaments held there between 2017 and 2023. Ireland captain Lucy Mulhall and record try scorer Murphy Crowe played in all five.

The Ireland Women returned Down Under aiming to back up their strong form from past visits, which included fourth place finishes at the Sydney Sevens in both 2019 and 2023.

Ireland squad - Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC), Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC), Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC/Blackrock College RFC), Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC), Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC), Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC), Lucinda Kinghan (Railway Union RFC), Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC), Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC), Kate Farrell McCabe (Suttonians RFC), Lucy Mulhall (Wicklow RFC), Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC), Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock College RFC), Vikki Wall (Ireland Sevens).