Ireland recorded a historic victory in the World Sevens Series with a 22-12 win over the USA at Twickenham.
Appearing at the tournament on an invitation, Ireland reached the quarter-final after finishing second in Pool B behind Australia.
Stan McDowell’s men got off to the perfect start when Jordan Conroy finished off a length-of-the-field move, outpacing USA flyer Carlin Isles.
John O’Donnell took a quick tap penalty moments later to touch down in the corner, and Hugo Keenan was on hand to grab Ireland’s third just before the break for a 17-0 lead.
That advantage was reduced when Martin Iosefo got the USA on the board with three and half left to play but Jimmy O’Brien’s try soon after putting the result to bed with Isles' late score proving only a consolation.
The result sets up a semi-final against Fiji at 2.48pm.
What a result boys! Epic performance. #HSBCWorldRugbySevensSeries pic.twitter.com/O5hxyacaql
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) June 3, 2018
"Obviously we had a plan coming into the game," McDowell told Sky Sports after the surprise win over the USA. "It required us to be very accurate from the kick-off, which we were.
"We kept the pressure on them defensively and that was our target, to come up in midfield and stay high on the outside.
"We controlled the kick-offs, we controlled the tempo and we have speed and footwork in the midfield and we used that to great effect."
On the feat of reaching the semi-final, McDowell added: "It's enormous. I've been part of this programme since it started five years ago...and everything was put in place to get us on the Series.
"We wanted to come here as preparation for the World Cup but also to show the world that we are serious about this and we can perform and be competitive."
RE:LIVE: @IrishRugby continue to make sevens history as they progress to their first ever Cup semi-final on the world series after beating USA at the #London7s pic.twitter.com/TRDs4hPwRq
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) June 3, 2018
