Ireland became the first nation to join hosts Germany at the European men's qualifer for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 after beating Poland 24-0 in the second of seven FIRA European events leading to the final in Hanover from 12-13 July.
Narrowly beaten by Wales in the final of Denmark Sevens in Odense, Ireland claimed the title in Sopot without conceding a point, beating Denmark 47-0, Hungary 40-0, Lithuania 40-0 and Sweden 21-0 to top Pool 1 on Saturday.
Ireland then overcame the Netherlands 32-0 in the semi-final before facing host nation Poland, who topped Pool 2 despite losing to Georgia 12-0, after their 14-5 defeat of Sweden in the other semi-final.
"We were very pleased not to concede a score over the whole weekend. We set that as one of our targets. We said we would concentrate on the defence and not let anything in and we did it, which is a pleasing aspect of the whole thing," said Conor McPhillips.
Sweden bounced back to beat the Netherlands 29-5 in the third place playoff, while Georgia won the Plate final with a 54-7 defeat of Lithuania to finish fifth, Denmark beat Lithuania 17-0 to claim seventh with Norway winning the Bowl final 33-12 against Hungary.
The performance of the likes of Sweden and the Netherlands was a bonus, IRB Regional Development Manager for Europe Michel Arpaillange admitting: "This year the European Championship is qualifier to the World Cup and all nations have the same desire to sparkle and to go to Dubai in 2009."
The remaining qualifying heats are in Zagreb (31 May-1 June), Tbilisi (7-8 June), Ostrava (14-15 June), Corfu (20-21 June) and Moscow (28-29 June), all the participating teams playing in two events with the best performers meeting in Hanover to determine the five European sides to qualify for the RWC Sevens in Dubai next March.
