Hugo Keenan paid tribute to rivals New Zealand after Ireland's sevens loss to the southern hemisphere side at the Stade de France, but the Leinster player was left ruing missed opportunities in the Pool C decider in Paris.
Ireland led 12-0 at the interval and could have been further ahead, but for a missed conversion attempt and Keenan's sloppy knock-on.
Converted tries from Leroy Carter and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black saw the All Blacks emerge victorious on a 14-12 scoreline and set up a quarter-final against South Africa, with Ireland poised to play defending champions Fiji at 9pm.
"They're a top side and I think unfortunately it was down to a few of our decisions in key moments, where we could have and should have put them away, but that's the quality we're up against," Keenan told RTÉ Sport.
"They punish you if you don't take your chances, but at the same time we're exactly where we want to be.
"We're in the quarter-finals and we're building well and we're excited for tonight. We'll have to park that and have full focus on Fiji now."
"They're gold medal holders for a reason, but if you want to win this, you've got to beat the best.
"Watching the lads in the world series this year, we're more than capable of coming up against any side if we play to our potential. That's all we're going to be worrying about."
The first-time Olympian, who has racked up three tournaments since returning to the squad he previously played in from 2017 to 2019, said of his experience so far: "It's been incredibly special. I've been incredibly lucky to get the support to chase a dream of mine that probably started a number of years ago, back when I was in the development stages of my career.
"The lads have been brilliant and the coaches have been brilliant at welcoming me back in.
"As I said, we're exactly and I'm exactly where we want to be, in the Stade de France and playing a quarter-final with medals on the line. This is why we play rugby, for these opportunities."
Watch the 2024 Olympic Games with 14 hours of televised action on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player each day. Listen to extensive radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 and 2fm's Game On and follow each moment from Paris on RTÉ.ie, the RTÉ News app and all RTÉ digital platforms. Listen to the daily RTÉ Sport Olympics Podcast.
