The Ireland men's Sevens team are just one win away from securing their place at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, after reaching the final of the European Games in Krakow.
James Topping's side were easy 24-0 winners against Portugal in their semi-final on Tuesday afternoon, and will take on Great Britain in tonight's final (8.35pm Irish time), as they look to join the Ireland women's team in booking their Olympic spot.
The winners will secure qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics, while the losers will still have a chance to qualify at the final repechage next year.
Having won four games from four to reach the semi-final, Ireland made light work of Portugal at the Henryk Reyman Stadium, scoring four tries to none.
Billy Dardis scored two tries, and converted both, to give them a 14-0 half time lead. Both came off the back of turnovers, with Andrew Smith and Terry Kennedy making the decisive steals.
Zac Ward extended the Irish lead early in the second half, finishing out on the right touchline after Kennedy's break through the middle was stopped short of the line.
Portugal's race was run when they gave up a yellow card with four minutes to play, and Ireland made that numerical advantage count when Jordan Conroy grabbed their fourth try shortly after.
Great Britain await Ireland in the decider after they got the better of Spain 19-7 in the other semi-final.
Dardis said: "It was a good game; a bit hectic at the start but we stayed on it, controlled that second half and saw it out so it was good ruthless performance."
"It'll be a big few hours, a big night tonight with hopefully a big game. We need to just try and recover now, focus, and get on task for this big one. There’s no motivation needed for a big Olympic qualifier so it’ll just be about getting our jobs right, getting our roles right and going out there to execute it."
Irish captain Harry McNulty added: "We are into the final. We are delighted with that. It means that we have secured a spot for the repechage, but we haven’t come here for that. We have one more game on our plate that we need to finish."
Watch live coverage of the Ireland Sevens team at the European Games via this live stream
