Former Ireland women's sevens player Hannah Tyrrell said that the current squad must head to the Paris Olympics with a medal very much on their radar after their HSBC SVNS Series win in Perth on Sunday.
The win, achieved via a final success against hosts Australia, was their first-ever series gold medal, and for Tyrrell the success doesn’t have to end there.
"It’s richly deserved because this programme has been building for a very long time...we’ve been knocking on the door a few times," Tyrrell told RTÉ 2fm's Game On.
"They reached a final in Spain a few years ago only to lose to Australia in that one, so, yeah, to get a win over the hosts, only the second time in 30 meetings we’ve beaten them, it’s incredible and these girls are a credit.
"They probably don’t get the same recognition as maybe some of the 15s players do because sevens isn’t as big in this country, but for me they’re on for a medal at these Olympic Games in the summer."
"I think our potential knows no bounds," she continued.
"We have a couple of players in there who are at the top of their game – Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe was nominated for world player of the year in the past, was top try scorer in the series.
"You have captain fantastic, Lucy Mulhall, who would die on the field for this team and can just make things happen.
"Then Béibhinn Parsons, Stacey Flood, I think the best thing about this squad is that there is a huge mix of talent and ability.
"Maybe before we were relying too much on one or two players, but everybody in this squad, there's massive depth there, is stepping up.
"I genuinely think there is a medal in this squad going to the Olympics. The beauty of sevens is that on any given day any team can win.
"We saw that at the weekend, Ireland were well deserved winners in the end, but I think we came into that tournament, based off of Cape Town, as the seventh best team and we went on to win it."
One of those who will be hoping to pick up a medal is Anna McGann.
The Athlone native ruptured her ACL in the aftermath of the side securing qualification last May and although she will still miss the next number of series events in Canada and the United States, McGann is hoping to return to training in a number of weeks.
She told Game On that while the Australia win was eye-catching, it wasn’t a complete shock to the squad.
"Australia lead in the women’s sevens at the moment, they’re the best in the world. We always knew whenever we go up against them we always put up a good fight, especially in the last few series we've really been knocking on the door," she said after proudly watching the victory from back home in Ireland.
"To actually come through and beat them at home in a final is just incredible."
Ireland’s seeding at the Olympics will depend on how they perform in the final five series events, and while a top two spot is out of the question, McGann is eyeing a powerful ranking to bring forward.
"Hopefully we can put ourselves in a good position come the end of the series.
"If we keep going the way we're going, we could get a bronze medal overall in the series. Australia and New Zealand are currently leading and they’re unfortunately too far out to catch at this stage."
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