Ireland open Olympics bid with South Africa win

Ireland's Rugby Sevens team kicked off their Olympics bid with a 10-5 win over South Africa at the Stade de France.

Jordan Conroy's try with the final play of the first half gave Ireland a 5-0 lead at the break.

Terry Kennedy scored a second try with two minutes remaining but South Africa set up a grandstand finish when Shelvyn Davids squeezed over the line with 30 seconds left.

In sweltering heat in Paris, Ireland made a bright start and Kennedy was inches away from latching onto his own kick, with the ball going dead as he was set to touch down.

Conroy went event closer to getting the first points on the board but he spilled the ball with the try line gaping with 90 seconds left in the first half, but the record try scorer in Ireland's Sevens history made amends as he got on the end of Zac Ward's offload to score.

South Africa almost touched down midway through the second half but the ball was knocked on by Shilton van Wyk as he challenged for the ball.

Ryan Oosthuizen was then sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Gavin Mullin, and Ireland immediately capitalised as he spotted a gap on the blindside and darted for the line.

Davids got South Africa on the board in the closing stages, but a poor kick-off allowed Ireland to send the ball into touch and secure the win.

The Rugby Sevens squad were the first representatives in action at the 2024 Games for Team Ireland.

James Topping's side, who finished 10th in the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, are back in action against Japan at 20:00 BST in their second Pool match.