Former Connacht Academy player Jordan Conroy is flying high on the World Rugby Seven series.
The 26-years-old who started played the game with Tullamore before moving to Buccaneers has been crowned the Gilbert Top Try Scorer at the 2020 awards, and won a place on the coveted Men’s HSBC Dream Team for his performances last season.
Conroy, a former Connacht Club Player of the Year, who also featured for the Connacht Eagles before changing to the Sevens' circuit, scored 30 tries in 28 games during the 2020 World Series.
His exploits earned him a place on the Dream Team alongside some of the biggest names in Sevens rugby in the world, while the Ireland team also received the Capgemini Momentum Tracker award, which analyses teams' performances across the series to assess improvement.
Conroy says he is proud of the achievement as it was Ireland's first year on the World Series as a core team.
"For us a group to receive three awards, and in particular be recognised as a team, is testament to the work everyone has put in behind the scenes, from the players to all of the staff.
"To be named top try scorer and on the World Series Dream Team is an honour, but again it is down to the hard work of everyone in the Ireland Sevens programme to enable us as players to go out and perform to the best of our ability. These awards only give us more hunger as players and as a group to better ourselves and improve on our performances from this season.
"A big goal for us as a team is to achieve Olympic qualification and that vision remains undiminished. We are working hard to put ourselves in the best position to have a good season in 2021."
Conroy has scored a whopping 45 tries in 43 games overall in the World Series, including five tries against Scotland in Dubai and crucial scores en route to quarter-finals in Cape Town and Los Angeles. He is the second Irish player to finish top of the try scoring charts , Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe having led the Women’s circuit in the 2019 season with 35 scores.
Claire Molloy
And in more good news for rugby, Galway's Claire Molloy, who plays with Wasps in England, has rejoined the Ireland's women's team after taking a break for her medical career. An emergency doctor in Cardiff Hospital, Molloy, who played Gaelic football for Galway, has been one of Ireland's leading players, competing in three World Cups. Ireland Women kick off their Six Nationsl on Sunday October 25 against Italy in Energia Park. Four Connacht players are included in the squad, Ballinasloe's young protegee Beibhinn Parsons, Shannon Tuohey, Laura Feely and Nichola Fryday.
