Les Bleus couldn’t have dreamed of anything better! The French achieved a historic feat by beating Fiji (28-7) at the end of a stunning final. Antoine Dupont and his teammates won the first gold medal for the French delegation at the 2024 Olympics!
20:55 – Thrills guaranteed!
Relive the Marseillaise in pictures at the Stade de France after the Olympic victory of the Blues!
8:50 p.m. – Great people present
The Olympic final of the French rugby 7s team was followed by many personalities. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron was present alongside Thomas Bach, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Tony Estanguet. Antoine Griezmann was also in the stands of the Stade de France.
20:45 – Happy reunion
At the World Cup last September, Antoine Dupont left the Stade de France in tears, defeated with his teammates by South Africa. This time, the scrum-half becomes Olympic champion in the same stadium.
20:40 – End of series
Winners of their last 17 games at the Olympics, the Fijians see this series come to an end this evening against the Blues!
20:35 – Saint-André: “Madness”
Interviewed by our colleagues at RMC, the former coach of the French XV, Philippe Saint-André thanked Jérôme Daret for this Olympic title: “The Olympics, rugby, it’s new. We’re playing the Fijians who won the last two Olympics. We have a player, Antoine Dupont, who is on a mission. Bravo to Jérôme Daret, he was able to restore the group’s confidence. French rugby brings the first gold medal to the French, in Paris. It’s crazy, there are a lot of people. The only problem at Club France is that there’s no air conditioning!”
20:30 – South Africa bronze medalist
Having beaten the Australians (26-12), the South Africans won the bronze medal and completed the podium.
20:25 – Match summary
Tonight, the French men’s rugby 7s team had a date with history. Facing the double defending champions Fiji, the Blues were not favourites. In rainy weather conditions, technical inaccuracies took over the spectacle at the start of the match before Talacolo found the fault thanks to the excellent work of Ravutaumada. The numerous missed tackles by the French allowed the Fijians to take the lead and score the first try. Before half-time, the handling errors followed one after the other and Andy Timo took advantage. He took the gap in the opponent’s 22 metres to serve Joseph Jefferson-Lee who flattened. 7-7 at the break.
Before the kick-off of the second act, Jérôme Daret replaced Stephen Parez Edo Martin and Rayan Rebbadj with Antoine Dupont and Varian Pasquet. A winning choice! On the return, Dupont took the closed side and dropped everyone in the race before serving Aaron Grandidier who scored the second French try. The Fijians made a series of mistakes and the Blues made the difference thanks to Dupont who scored two tries at the end of the match, sealing the French victory in this competition with JO 2024The French men’s rugby 7s team won the first Olympic title for the French delegation in these Olympics.
20:20 – Winning bet for Dupont
While he had mentioned his desire to compete in the Olympic Games a few months ago, Antoine Dupont is now an Olympic champion! The XV scrum-half has succeeded in his bet started and worked on throughout the season.
20:15 – A stunning finale
Trailing 7-0 after a try from Talacolo in the first minutes, the Blues overturned the immense Fijians, double title holders before the 2024 Olympics.
8:09 p.m. – The Blues are Olympic champions!
At the end of a stunning final, Antoine Dupont scored a second try and the Blues won the 2024 Olympic Games in rugby 7s! They won against Fiji (28-7), double title holders before 2024.
20:05 – It smells good! (21-7)
A winning entry into the game for Antoine Dupont who made the difference five meters from the line. The number 11 allowed the Blues to lead 21-7 with 50 seconds left in regulation time.
20:03 – Penalty
The Blues have a penalty to negotiate five meters from the opposing in-goal. Ball in hand for Antoine Dupont who will play by hand.
20:02 – Advantage France!
The Blues are five meters from the Fijian goal line! What a final for the French!