BALLYNAHINCH man Zac Ward says it was a “dream come true” to compete in the Olympic Games as he prepares to return from Paris.
Former Ballynahinch RFC man Ward had the honour of being the first Northern Ireland competitor on show at this year’s Olympic Games when he lined out for the Ireland rugby sevens team against South Africa last week.
“I don’t think I can really put it into words at the moment. It was an absolute dream come true to even get picked, but to be in Paris representing both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as part of Team Ireland was really special,” Ward explained.
Ireland’s medal hopes were dashed last Thursday following a 19-15 defeat to Fiji in the quarter-finals.
Ward, the son of former Ireland and Ulster star Andy, was one of Ireland’s best performers over the course of the tournament, bagging a try in the game against the Fijians, who are the most successful men’s sevens team in Olympic history, after opening the scoring with a superb solo effort against tournament favourites New Zealand earlier on Thursday.
The ex-Down High pupil admitted that, despite being proud of their performance, he and his teammates are disappointed not to be returning home with medals around their necks.
“I gave it my best crack, I think we all did as a team. Obviously, the goal was to get a medal, we didn’t do that, so on that side of things we’re a little disappointed because we did have high expectations for ourselves.”
In the full report in the current issue Zac explains what it felt like to play on the world stage.