Ireland men's sevens' hopes of qualifying for this summer's Tokyo Olympics have been boosted by the availability of experienced campaigner Harry McNulty.

Although McNulty had turned his attention to the larger code recently after joining Major League Rugby (MLR) outfit LA Giltinis, the IRFU struck a deal to ensure the 28-year-old can play in next weekend's World Rugby Sevens Repechage event in Monaco.

The IRFU have an unwritten rule in the 15s game that means any player playing outside of Ireland will not be considered for selection for the national team, but the sevens setup is relieved to be able to welcome McNulty back into the fold.

“No, there wasn't because we just brought him back from that contract,” IRFU director of sevens and women's rugby, Anthony Eddy said when asked if there had been any issues around selecting a player playing overseas.

“When we approached Harry and first approached LA, they were happy to release Harry for the Olympics, which is fantastic and very nice of them to do.

“Not everybody gets an opportunity to represent their country and become an Olympian.

“We spoke to the club and Harry spoke to them as well. It's just something that the club looked on as favourably for Harry, so he has been released to us.

“Hopefully he gets what he deserves and that's representing his country at the Olympics.”

Ireland are one of 10 teams vying for the last place at the Olympics and Eddy's side will face Zimbabwe, Mexico, Tonga and Samoa in their pool, with the top two teams advancing to the semi-finals.

Ireland men's sevens squad (for World Rugby Sevens Repechage) – J Kelly, H McNulty, F Horan, I Fitzpatrick, A Leavy, B Dardis, S Cribbin, H Lennox, G Mullin, T Kennedy, J Conroy, A Sexton, M Roche, B Mollen.