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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Oisin Doherty

Ireland men's rugby Sevens Olympic qualifier delayed as 'strong winds' cause goalpost malfunction

Ireland's men's rugby sevens Olympic qualifying clash with Portugal has been delayed due to 'strong winds'.

The sides were due to face off at 12.58pm Irish time, but that has been pushed back and the game is now due to kick-off at 2.02pm this afternoon.

It is understood that the strong winds have caused the huge tarp that was covering the stage to become snagged on the top of the goal-posts.

The incident occurred during the women's semi-final between Great Britain and Belgium at around 10.40am this morning.

After members of the fire-brigade arrived to help deal with the situation, a new set of posts had to be put up to replace the damaged ones.

Play finally resumed at 11.50am with Great Britain eventually beating Belgium 36-12.

Referencing the delay, the official Irish rugby account tweeted: "RUGBY SEVENS: RESCHEDULED SEMI FINAL TIME 14.02pm (IRISH TIME) V POR

"Typical Irish weather caused some issues in the stadium, pushing out the start time for the Men's Rugby Sevens team."

After winning their three group games, Ireland got the better of Belgium last time out to reach the semi-finals of the event, the winner of which will qualify for next year's Olympic Games in Paris.

The winners of Ireland v Portugal will take on either Great Britain or Spain in the final.

The final had been due to begin at 8.35pm this evening. As of yet, there has been no word on whether this afternoon's delay will impact the final.

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