Thanks to their success (19-5) on Saturday against the Blitzboks, the Tricolores will compete for the gold medal this evening (7:45 p.m.) against Fiji, winners over Australia.
:quality(50)/2023/06/13/648861e0f3bd6_jlamotterond.png)
Published
Update
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/07/27/000-366a396-66a4fe6f29d98681302754.jpg)
The French team reached the final of the rugby 7s tournament on Saturday 27 July at the Stade de France, beating South Africa 19-5 at the end of a match made very tense by the weather conditions and a slippery ball. Facing a team that had beaten them twice in two matches this season, Antoine Dupont’s teammates were able to find the resources to go for the victory at the end of the match thanks to a saving opportunism.. In the evening, the Blues will aim for the first gold medal in their Olympic history against the Fijians, double reigning Olympic champions and winners of Australia (31-7) in the other semi-final.
Seven extras. No need to know the Léo Ferré song to sing the victory song with the Blues. However, they suffered much more than the score suggests. After a first half marked by numerous handling errors, largely linked to a ball made soapy by the incessant rain, the French conceded the first try of the match, scored by Tristan Leyds at the end of the line, six minutes from the end.
Paris 2024 – Rugby 7s: France in bad shape against South Africa
This bite came, like a bad omen, just after Antoine Dupont came on. But the fifteenth-year-old immediately knew how to find the antidote to counter the poison. Well helped by the thunderous entry into play of Varian Pasquet, the Tricolores turned the tables in the space of a few minutes during which they rediscovered all the offensive drive already seen against Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Rayan Rebbadj scored twice, before Jordan Sepho completed the Blues’ success in the final seconds to bring the final score to 19-5 under the enamored eyes of a Stade de France drunk with happiness.
Paris 2024 – Rugby 7s: a double from Rebbadj and France is in the final
A happiness that will continue until 7:45 p.m., the time of the final. Antoine Dupont’s partners will face Fiji, already assured of winning, at least, the silver medal. But the minimum does not seem to be an option for these Blues. “There is a color that we prefer for this medal, we are not going to lie to each other”confirmed Antoine Dupont at the end of the match.