BAHRAIN-born Harry McNulty and the Ireland Sevens team will face the toughest challenge of their Olympic credentials yet as they take part in the Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage Tournament this weekend.
The 22-year-old speedster has been an ever-present in the Ireland side since its re-establishment back in May and is once again included in the extended 13-man squad for this weekend’s event in Lisbon, Portugal.
Having impressed for the Irish Wolfhounds team in the opening rounds of the GB7s Series, McNulty earned his first senior international honours as Ireland strolled to victory in the Rugby Europe Division ‘C’ in Bosnia in June.
They followed up by winning the Division ‘B’ title in Croatia two weeks later without conceding a single point but they will face an altogether tougher challenge this weekend as they bid to take the next step towards Rio 2016.
Indeed, Ireland will need to be at their best from the opening game of the pool stages on Saturday as they face the number-one ranked side and IRB Sevens Series regulars Russia before tackling heavy-weights Georgia and Italy later that afternoon.
Two wins out of three on Saturday should see them through to the knockout stages of the main competition on Sunday and a top-three overall finish will book them a place at the World Olympic Repechage Tournament later this year, when they will battle it out for the final spot at next year’s games.