By Mitch Phillips
LONDON (Reuters) – The arrival of Antoine Dupont has elevated France to real gold medal contenders in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics as the superstar scrumhalf hopes to help his country move on from their heartbreaking failure at the XVs World Cup last year.
An open-looking men’s tournament gets underway at the Stade de France on July 24, two days before the opening ceremony, with the final on July 27, but Dupont will be the centre of attention.
There is generally not much crossover between the two versions of the sport but such is Dupont’s talent and versatility that he not only dropped into the Sevens squad seamlessly but has lifted France to unimagined levels.
Having previously shown scant interest in the format, with Dupont on board France won in Los Angeles this year for their first world series triumph in 19 years.
He then skipped back to his club Toulouse to help them win the European Champions Cup final and a week later was back in the Sevens team, driving France to victory in the new season-ending Grand Final.
France suffered an agonizing quarter-final loss to South Africa in their home Rugby World Cup last October in the XV’s format, and while a Sevens gold in Paris will never erase that pain it would certainly get the Olympics off to a flying start for the host nation.
In the Grand Final in Madrid on June ,2 France beat Argentina, who had topped the regular season standings for the first time and the South Americans will be strong podium contenders in Paris.
Fiji took third in Madrid, lifting the mood after a dire season for a country that considers Rugby Sevens its national sport.
Fiji won their first Olympic gold in any sport with the men’s Sevens in 2016 and retained the title in Tokyo.
However, they have just had their worst-ever campaign in the World Sevens regular season series, where they finished a distant sixth, failing to make the final in any of the seven tournaments and reaching the semis only once.
After finishing in the top four of the standings in all 23 of their previous World Series competitions, that has not gone down well in Fiji.
However, the encouraging signs shown in Madrid, combined with the incredible individual athleticism of so many of their players and their connection with the Olympics, means they remain highly dangerous.
New Zealand, world champions a remarkable 14 times – 10 more than anyone else – and silver medallists in Tokyo, will also be in the mix, along with Australia and late bloomers Ireland.
OLD RIVALS
The women’s competition looks a much more straightforward affair with New Zealand and Australia in a class of their own but, as the Madrid Grand final showed, one slip-up in the pool phase could prove costly.
The old rivals won six of the seven world series events between them, with New Zealand taking the regular season title in a last-round shoot-out between them.
However, a surprise pool stage defeat for New Zealand against Canada in Spain meant the “Big Two” met in the semis, with Australia pinching it then going on to beat France in the final.
Australia won the inaugural Olympic event in 2016, beating New Zealand in the final, while the Black Ferns Sevens took gold in 2021. It would be a huge surprise if this year’s gold leaves the region on July 30.
Fiji took bronze in Tokyo – the only women’s medal the country has ever won at the Olympics – but just like the men’s team they look off the pace this season, finishing sixth in the world series and seventh in the Grand Final.
France look the best of the rest but a home double might be a step too far.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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