An encouraging defeat and things can get serious. Beaten by Fiji in the afternoon, for their last group match (12-19), Jérôme Daret’s players will once again tread the pitch at the Stade de France at 9:30 p.m., for their quarter-final against Argentina, on Thursday, July 25.
A defeat without consequences. The beginnings of Antoine Dupont’s team could have been more serene, but the overall result remains positive. The Tricolores came up against the United States (12-12) to everyone’s surprise in their opening match, but secured their qualification by beating Uruguay (19-12) at the end of the day, Wednesday. On Thursday afternoon, they fell with honors against the Fijian Olympic champions (12-19).
A big chunk from the quarter-finals. By qualifying in second place in Group C, France has not made things easy for itself for the rest of the Olympic tournament. It will face Argentina in the quarter-finals, second in Group B, but leader of the regular season of the SVNS, the annual competition of rugby 7s nations, and bronze medalist in Tokyo in 2021. It was against the Pumas that Les Bleus won their first world title, in June in Madrid.
A rethought composition. While Antoine Dupont had approached the two Wednesday matches as a starter, the experienced Stephen Parez was preferred to him to face Fiji. The only player in the team to have experienced the adventure in Rio in 2016, he is a key player for Les Bleus and has proven to be extremely valuable with his aggressiveness. It remains to be seen whether Jérôme Daret will continue the same starting seven against Argentina, with Antoine Dupont as an X-factor coming off the bench. On the other hand, Théo Forner injured his knee against Fiji and is uncertain for the rest of the competition.