Ireland fared surprisingly well at the inaugural Superleague World Nines Championship in Fiji yesterday where, in stark contrast to the union colleagues, the scored a surprise win over France in the early stages of the tournament.

The Irish kicked off their tournament with a 20-4 win over Japan before meeting the highly rated and entirely professional French. At the end of normal time the tie was tied 14-14 but in sudden death extra time Bradford Bulls hooker James Lowes went over to clinch the match.

In their final group match the Irish were defeated 20-0 by New Zealand but they had already done enough to join the Kiwis as the second qualifier from the group in the last eight. Today they face New Zealand again as well as Wales and Papua New Guinea.