Saint-Denis (AFP) – One match away from a medal: the French rugby 7s team have qualified for the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament after beating their arch-rivals Argentina in style on Thursday (26-14) in the heated atmosphere of the Stade de France.
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Antoine Dupont and his teammates will be able to watch the unprecedented opening ceremony of the JO 2024 on the Seine.
They will not play that day, but have chosen not to take part in the festivities in order to focus on recovery before their semi-final the following day (3:30 p.m.) against South Africa, the surprise winner of New Zealand (14-7).
They will also feel a pang of relief in front of their TVs, because their competition could very well have ended before the Olympic cauldron was even officially lit.
She had started off rather badly on Wednesday, with a worrying draw against the United States (12-12) and a sluggish victory over the modest Uruguay (19-12).
The French, initially inhibited by the stakes, paradoxically reassured themselves by losing their last group match on Thursday against Fiji (19-12), the two-time reigning Olympic champions, who will face Australia in the other semi-final.
“ We were a little stressed at the start of the competition.admits Antoine Zeghdar. Today, we were able to rectify the situation by playing to our strengths. “.
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“ Don’t stop on the way »
Finally liberated, the French confirmed their rise in power in the evening against the vengeful Argentinians, whom they had already beaten in June (19-5) to win the final tournament of the world circuit.
The match ended in a fight and the dispute was not completely closed between the two Latin rivals.
Everything went well in the first half for Jérôme Daret’s men, who took the lead thanks to three converted tries, from Andy Timo and Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, twice.
Trailing 21-0, the Pumas came back into the game, taking advantage of a yellow card from Jordan Sepho, before Dupont delivered his team with a try at the siren, punctuated by a liberating dive.
“ I have never experienced such emotions “, savors Grandidier Nkanang, already author of a try against Fiji. ” I never imagined I would play in front of 69,000 people. It’s only the quarter, we still have a long way to go, but it gives us crazy emotions. I was almost in tears at the end of the match “.
“ These are memories that we will keep for life. “, supports his teammate Stephen Parez. ” But the memory we want to keep is having the gold medal. We must not stop halfway “.
This will require a victory over South Africa, not really expected in the last four. A country against which Dupont, eliminated by the Springboks in the quarter-finals of the World Cup last autumn with the French XV, has a personal score to settle.
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