The French rugby 7s team kicked off the French Olympics by drawing with the United States (12-12) on Wednesday, July 24 at the Stade de France. They will need to step up their game against Uruguay tonight (8 p.m.) to take a step toward qualifying for the quarter-finals.
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First Blues in these Olympic Games and first Blues on the field. The French rugby 7s team opened the show in these Olympic Games against the United States and in front of a melting crowd at the Stade de France. But Antoine Dupont and his teammates were held by the Americans (12-12) for their entry into the competition.
Everything moves very quickly in rugby 7s. The French, led by Dupont, had started their match perfectly by cornering the Americans just in front of their line, before logically concretizing their domination after three minutes with a try from Jordan Sepho at the end of the line (5-0).
Suffocated by the Blues’ cannon start, the Americans buckled for five minutes without breaking again, before finally turning the tables before the break with a solo try from Lucas Lacamp (5-7).
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Riva’s try disallowed in second half
In front of a crowd that did not hide its pleasure by giving voice to each action, the Blues got back on track from the start of the second act by once again deceiving the American defensive curtain on a collective action in two stages, concluded in a snatch by Rayan Rebbadj (12-7) to put the Blues back in front.
The Blues showed themselves to be solid defensively and could have even scored a 3rd try on a superb chistera from Dupont for his captain Paulin Riva, unfortunately guilty of a forward pass at the end of the action. Far from giving up, the United States showed that they also knew how to strike and snatched the equalizing try thanks to Tupuola (12-12) two minutes from the final whistle.
” It’s not negative, we still have two chances (against Uruguay and Fiji) to qualify, it’s up to us to step up our game. We felt supported throughout the match. It was great, we expected it, we saw the tickets disappear. It’s a shame that there was no victory at the end “, declared Paulin Riva, the captain of the Blues.
After this little hiccup at the start, the Blues will have to be sharper against Uruguay tonight (8 p.m.) if they do not want to find themselves in a difficult position to qualify for the quarter-finals.
More information to follow at 8 p.m. with the France-Uruguay match.
Kenya outclassed by Argentina, South Africa loses to Ireland
Kenya and South Africa also each had a difficult start to the competition. For its third participation in the Olympic Games, Kenya faced Argentina to kick off its tournament. The Kenyans quickly opened the score by showing great offensive capabilities and holding their own against the Argentinians in the first half (7-5). They had much more difficulty containing them in the second half, despite a superb team move concluded by Wekesa and widely acclaimed by the crowd at the Stade de France. They then collapsed by conceding three more Argentinian tries at the end of the match to lose heavily (12-31). Kenya will face Australia at 7 p.m. for its second match.
For their part, the South Africans fought a great battle against Ireland (5-10) but did not find the solution to catch up. Their next match will be played against New Zealand at 9:30 p.m.