Tipperary's Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe the star as Irish sevens rugby team books ticket for Olympics
Ireland beat Fiji in Toulouse
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe is the toast of Irish rugby today after scoring two tries for the Ireland Women’s Rugby Sevens squad that beat Fiji 10-5 at the HSBC France Sevens in Toulouse to secure the fourth and final automatic qualification place for next year's Olympic Games.
Tipperary Town woman Murphy Crowe, the record try scorer for the Irish team in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, touched down twice in the first half during Ireland's victory, bringing her tally to 164 tries in the competition.
Despite bowing out at the quarter-final stage of the tournament, losing 17-7 defeat to Australia, Ireland remained in the automatic qualification spot and had to beat Fiji in the fifth-place semi-final.
The Olympic Rugby Sevens competition runs from July 24-30 2024 at the Stade de France in Paris.
The team joins champions New Zealand, Australia, the USA and hosts France as the fifth team to book their place at next summer’s Olympics.
IRFU Chief Executive Kevin Potts stated "A huge amount of hard work has gone on behind the scenes for the last number of years to reach this historic milestone and it is testament to the dedication, talent and resilience of the players that they have qualified for the Olympics".