The Stade de France is holding its breath. For this third day of competition, the French Olympic rugby 7s team will face the South Africans in the semi-finals, live on France Télévisions and france.tv. Les Bleus are well into their competition, after their quarter-final victory against Argentina. The second semi-final will then pit Australia against Fiji at 4 p.m. The small final for the bronze medal will be held at 7 p.m., preceding the final scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
The daydream of the Blues. Three years after watching the Tokyo Olympics on television, the French rugby sevens team went from not having qualified to being a contender for the title. For their second participation (after Rio in 2016, where they finished in 7th position), the French have carved out a flourishing list of achievements: third place at the Vancouver tournament, victory in Los Angeles, final in Hong Kong and first victory in their history at the World Series final in Madrid.
The South African spectrum of rugby union. Double XV world champions and executioners of the French hopes in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup last October, the South Africans, who went through the Olympic qualifying tournament (OQT) to secure their ticket, achieved the feat of knocking out New Zealand (14 to 7) in the quarter-finals. Facing a legendary nation of world rugby, the Tricolores will have to fight to reach their first Olympic final and win a first medal for the blue team sport.
Fijians to remain the only Olympic champions? Since rugby sevens was added to the Olympic programme in Rio, only one team has been crowned men’s champion: Fiji, known for their ability to create individual differences thanks to their technique and physical potential. They won the first two editions of the Olympic tournament, beating Great Britain (41-7) in the final in 2016, then New Zealand (27-12) in 2021. In the other semi-final, the Pacific players will challenge Australia.