After losing to Fuji and defeating Kenya, Ireland will go into the second day of group matches at the World Cup Sevens in Argentina looking to reach the knock-out stages of the plate competition, which take place tomorrow.
They opened with a 41-5 defeat against defending champions Fiji, with David Quinlan scoring an historic first try against the sevens specialists, before overcoming Kenya 31-5 in Group A.
Skipper James Topping scored twice in the victory, with Derek Hegarty, James Ferris and Matt Mostyn adding the other tries.
"If anybody had offered me one win from two at the start of the day, I'd have accepted it," said Irish team manager Kurt McQuilkin.
"We are still on course for the plate competition, which was our aim. But we have another big day ahead of us with three games, and Korea showed against Argentina that they will be very difficult. I think we will have to be a bit more physical with them."
Ireland face three further games today - against hosts Argentina, Korea and Russia - but stand a good chance of reaching the plate.
England, meanwhile, face a humiliating exit from the competition after suffering a shock defeat against Spain.
The former winners were left with the prospect that even victory over New Zealand in their final Group C game in Mar del Plata tonight might not be enough to reach the quarter-finals. -PA