France booked their place in the Olympic rugby sevens knock-out phase Wednesday but struggled to live up to their pre-tournament favourites tag while powerhouse Fiji showed they will take some beating.
Les Bleus came into the sevens competition on a high, boosted by the presence of Antoine Dupont, viewed by many as the world’s greatest player in the 15-a-side code.
But a shock 12-12 draw against the United States in their first pool C encounter was followed by a nailbiting 19-12 win over Uruguay that was anything but convincing.
Dupont received the biggest cheer of the night when he doggedly shrugged off the attentions of the Uruguay defence to sprint half the length of the pitch for a try.
In a see-saw match, France took the lead only for Uruguay to peg them back, a burst of pace from Jefferson-Lee Joseph finally breaking the deadlock to the collective relief of the sold-out 69,000 crowd.
“If we don’t raise our level, we won’t go very far. We know that and we’re capable of doing much better,” said Dupont after the match.
“We didn’t put ourselves in a good place once again. We struggled to impose our game plan, to keep the ball.”
Fiji have won both Olympic golds since rugby was introduced at the 2016 Rio Games but have recently suffered a run of poor form by their high standards.
However, the undisputed kings of sevens have enjoyed a renaissance under new coach Osea Kolinisau and were back to their brilliant free-flowing best in a 40-12 demolition of Uruguay.
They turned on the style in their second match, bamboozling the United States with mesmerising offloads and searing pace for a captivating 38-12 win.
The Fijians face France next in a mouthwatering clash on Thursday to decide the pool winner.
French back Jean-Pascal Barraque did not mince his words after the stuttering performance.
“We didn’t really enjoy ourselves on the pitch and nor, I think, did the crowd, poor things. At least we made all our mistakes today and tomorrow can only be better,” said Barraque.
‘Group of death’
Earlier, Australia booked their quarter-final place from pool B with two hard-fought wins over a determined Samoa and Kenya.
Argentina, who were roundly booed by the home faithful, also ensured a spot in the knock-out phase, running out comfortable 31-12 winners against Kenya before beating Samoa 28-12.
Argentina’s flyer Marcos Moneta shrugged off the hostile crowd reception, saying: “I don’t mind that, I enjoy it.
“I don’t know if (the hostility to us) was because of the World Cup (Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup football final) or if they just don’t like us. I don’t mind.”
Pool A, seen as the “group of death”, pitted rugby superpowers New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland against each other, along with emerging force Japan.
Ireland and the All Blacks emerged on top, both comfortably seeing off Japan and narrowly edging out South Africa.
Both showed they will be contenders at the business end of the competition, the All Blacks in particular impressing with some slick handling in their 17-5 win over the Blitzboks.
With the global exposure that comes with the Olympics and playing to a sold-out Stade de France, World Rugby’s chief executive Alan Gilpin has described the tournament as a “coming of age” moment for the sport.
“There has never been a greater spotlight on the sport,” Gilpin said ahead of the competition.
The women’s tournament starts on Sunday, with Australia and New Zealand well-placed to battle for the gold.