Divine Antoine Dupont drives France to Olympic rugby sevens semis

PARIS – France finally turned up on the rugby stage on home soil at the Paris Olympics on July 25, inspired by none other than their global superstar Antoine Dupont.

The 27-year-old led his team to a thrilling 26-14 Olympic sevens quarter-final win over Argentina, on a pulsating night at the Stade de France that also saw the mighty New Zealand suffer a shock exit.

Meanwhile, two-time gold medallists Fiji survived a huge scare from an outstanding Ireland, narrowly retaining their unvanquished Games record with a dramatic come-from-behind 19-15 win.

France had flattered to deceive in the pool phase, but finally justified their pre-tournament favourite tag, blitzing bitter rivals Argentina with three first-half tries.

Aaron Grandidier Nkanang wowed the crowd with two of those, the second an acrobatic dive into the corner that was arguably the best finish of the tournament so far.

“Playing in a stadium like that gave me emotions I’ve never felt before in my life,” he said.

“I never imagined I would one day play in front of 69,000 people. Perhaps we finally realised we were playing at the Olympics – at home.

“Argentina are a very physical team. We knew if we weren’t in the combat zone, we would not go through. I know there is still a long way to go, but I was almost in tears at the end. Thanks to the fans, I don’t have the words.”

Following France’s dominating first half, the Argentinians pulled a try back early in the second through Rodrigo Isgro.

This prompted French coach Jerome Daret to unleash the talismanic 27-year-old Dupont, seen by many as the world’s greatest 15-a-side player, with five minutes remaining.

A yellow card for Jordan Sepho came at the worst possible time for the home side and Los Pumas capitalised on the man advantage to pull back another try, setting up a nervy climax.

But France hung on valiantly and Dupont put the icing on the cake with a fairy-tale solo effort after the buzzer to set up a semi-final against South Africa, who shocked New Zealand 14-7.

The South Africans, who qualified for the Games by winning the final repechage slot in June, went ahead with a try by Selvyn Davids, who then delivered a great kick and chase which he scooped up to gift Tristan Leyds a second try, both converted by Leyds.

Tokyo silver medallists New Zealand closed the gap to 14-7 at half-time through Moses Leo and then hammered at the door throughout the second half but were kept at bay by some incredible South African defence.

The final quarter-final of the night saw Australia see off the United States in a relatively comfortable 18-0 win, setting up a last-four clash with Fiji.

The atmosphere and drama on July 25 was exactly what World Rugby had hoped for at the Paris Olympics, with chief executive Alan Gilpin saying the Games represented a “coming of age” moment for rugby sevens. AFP, REUTERS