The Ireland men's Sevens team remain on track for an Olympic qualification spot, with wins against Germany and Belgium seeing them advance to the semi-finals of the European Games in Krakow.
Following yesterday's comprehensive wins against Poland and Italy, Ireland's 19-7 win against Germany saw them top Pool A and earn the number one seed in the knockout stages, before a comfortable 26-12 win against Belgium in the quarter-finals.
James Topping's side will take on Portugal, who beat Georgia, in the semi-final on Tuesday (12.58pm Irish time), knowing they will secure a place at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris if they win the tournament, while the runner-up and third-place finisher will go through to the final qualifying event next year.
Great Britain and Spain will contest the other semi-final.
Having come from behind to win against Germany earlier on Monday, Ireland again started slowly against the eight-seed Belgians in the quarter-final, with the concession of two quick penalties seeing them on the back foot early on, before falling 7-0 behind when Gillian Benoy powered through to score.
Ireland looked comfortable once they established some phases in attack however, and drew level three minutes before half-time when captain Harry McNulty floated a long pass to the left touchline to find Dylan O'Grady, who cut back inside to run in under the posts and score, with Mark Roche's conversion making it 7-7.
The crucial moment came right before the break, with Terry Kennedy grubbering into space and collecting his kick to dive in and score Ireland's second try, which Roche again converted to put Ireland 14-7 up at the break.
Belgium never looked like pulling off a second-half comeback, losing Nathan Bontems to a yellow card, which was quickly punished by Liam McNamara who scored Ireland's third try.
McNamara got his second of the game two minutes from time, breaking clear after Ireland turned over a ruck, and while Belgium did pull a try back in the final minute, it would only be a consolation.
Watch live coverage of the Ireland Sevens team at the European Games via this live stream
