Ireland men's sevens team will face the USA, South Africa and Kenya in the Pool stages of their first Olympic Games.
Anthony Eddy's side made history after qualifying with a 28-17 victory over France in Monaco last week.
Ireland have been paired in Pool C alongside South Africa, USA and Kenya for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Rugby Sevens competition, which takes place from July 26th-28th at Tokyo Stadium.
The opponents will be familiar as Ireland faced all three sides at the 2020 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Eddy's side also faced the USA at the GB International 7s tournament in May.
“We are familiar with these teams from the World Series and the reality is there are no easy games at this level,” Eddy, the IRFU Director of Sevens and Women’s Rugby, said. “We will prepare well for the Pool matches and look forward to each game. I think the Monaco tournament experience will put us in a good position for Tokyo.”
Commenting on the Pool draw, Ireland Captain Billy Dardis said: “After letting the emotions of the last week settle, it is all starting to get very real for the squad and today’s announcement is an exciting marker for us. It is going to be a very challenging Pool but we’ve come up against those three teams regularly before and will take confidence from previous meetings.
“We’ll focus on preparing for these three teams now over the coming weeks and it’s an exciting time for us. We’re really looking forward to getting over to Tokyo and stepping onto the Olympic stage.”
