Ireland’s captain at the Paris Olympics has accused the IRFU of being “disrespectful to the Olympic programme” after their decision to discontinue the men’s Sevens programme.
Harry McNulty, who represented Ireland at a pair of Olympic Games and also won a bronze medal at the 2022 Sevens World Cup, has said that Ireland will miss out on global reach “bigger than any World Cup” and will “feel the impact of not having a Sevens programme”.
On Wednesday, the IRFU released a statement saying that it would no longer support a men’s Sevens team. The format as a whole is in a period of flux, with both the Ireland men’s and women’s teams relegated from the World Series as World Rugby enacts a number of format changes in a bid to revitalise the sport.
While the men’s programme will be no more, the IRFU confirmed that the women’s Sevens squad will continue to operate. In its statement, the governing body said that the men’s programme “does not contribute as a development pathway for the 15s game, with current academy structures in place within the provinces offering greater development opportunities”.
McNulty took issue with the IRFU’s position, pointing to a number of 15s players who have played Sevens. The likes of Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O’Brien and Robert Baloucoune are frequently cited as examples. In recent years, Zac Ward, Chay Mullins and Andrew Smith have all seen provincial game time after playing on the Sevens circuit.
“From the inception in 2015 there have been players in our programme who have gone back to 15s every single year. They may not have become big names or all played for Ireland, but they all went back as better players.
“Zac [Ward] was a backrower now turned winger because of his Olympic prowess. He had double the amount of metres gained in the Olympics than any other player in the world. If he wasn’t going to make it as a backrower, where was he going to make it? This has allowed him set up a whole new career for himself.
“Baloucoune, one of his first touches, first cap against the USA he scored from 40 metres out beating three players. We saw him do that week in, week out when he was with us.”
The IRFU also pointed to its difficult financial position having lost €18 million in the 2023/24 season. During that time, the IRFU spent €4.2 million on Sevens.
McNulty said those figures were “outliers”, pointing to how the lack of November internationals as a result of the 2023 World Cup hurt the IRFU’s income. He also took issue with the classification of the women’s Sevens programme as a valuable development pathway, while the men’s is not.
“Why is one a financial burden when the other is seen as a development pathway? They’re both the same sports, but one is being let go, the other isn’t.
“It’s [men’s programme] everything that the women’s team is doing as well, but somehow it’s deemed a financial burden.”
McNulty believes other countries risk going down the same path for Ireland. Pointing out the success of smaller rugby nations such as Spain and Brazil, he expresses concern that any similar decisions by other nations risk the growth of the sport. “There’s been so much change, so much up in the air,” he said.
“Other nations are definitely struggling, Ireland probably won’t be the only nation which will cease to exist. The finances and loss of money gets in the way of what Sevens can do for the sport of rugby as a whole.
“I think there needs to be a shift in mindset. Rather than it being something losing money, this is a spend on marketing for your nation and for the growth of the game. When you do that, you’re probably making more money in the long run through a marketing spend.”
While Ireland’s former captain believes the ending of the programme was dealt with “poorly”, he expresses his disappointment for those currently involved. “We had 10 lads move on from the programme [last year] and it’s hard to keep up at the level Sevens is played at.
“I feel really bad for everybody involved. Irish rugby as a whole will feel the impact of not having a Sevens programme. It is definitely improving rugby and growing the game an immense amount.”
