Rugby 7s: after Antoine Dupont’s incredible try, the Blues will play the final against Great Britain

2024-03-04 00:39:13

For the first time since 2020, the French rugby sevens team will play a final on the world circuit. Led by Antoine Dupont who continues his rise in power in the discipline, the Blues triumphed over Ireland this Sunday in Los Angeles (26-24) and await Great Britain in the final, winner of Spain 10-7 in the other semi-final.

Holder for the third time in a row, Antoine Dupont could do nothing to prevent the breakthrough of Jordan Conroy, unstoppable to score the first try of the match (0-7, 2nd). Not affected, the usual captain of the XV of France immediately reacted with an exceptional acceleration, going up half the field to allow the Blues to get back on track (7-7, 3rd) thanks to his sixth try in the jersey of 7 , the most beautiful so far.

An unbreathable end to the match

Dominated by the Irish intensity, the Blues fought hard to hold on for a long defensive sequence, helped by the excellent return of Jefferson Lee Joseph (5th) before stinging just before the break. Staggered by a Dupont in the oven and in the mill, Swan Rebbadj went to score the second French try of the match (12-7, 7th). Jérôme Daret’s men got off to a very good start in the second act, under the leadership of Paulin Riva, author of a beautiful feint before finishing in the middle to make the break (19-7, 9th) before seeing the Ireland narrow the gap thanks to Terry Kenney’s 100th try (19-12, 10th).

But these Blues have resources. Well kicked by Stephen Parez, Antoine Zeghdar scored the fourth try to allow his teammates to regain their lead (26-12, 11th). Totally unbridled, the end of the match saw the green players come together again with one minute to go (26-19), testing the mental strength of the French.

“Our mindset made the difference”

At the end of an interminable sequence on the last action of the match, Kennedy made Dupont and his team tremble by scoring in the right corner (26-24, 14th). But fortunately for the France group, the transformation, eccentric, did not happen, allowing the Blues to qualify for the 8th final in their history on the world circuit.

“Our state of mind made the difference,” declares Antoine Dupont. We saw it, at the end, we fought to push them to score a point and they didn’t convert the try.” From a more personal point of view, the Toulouse native does not hide the fact that he struggled physically: “Playing three matches on the same day for my second tournament is difficult. I had pain this morning when I got up. But I’m very happy to be in the final.” The Blues will have to finish the job against Great Britain, a team they beat in the group stage.

Also involved in Los Angeles, the French women’s team lost to Canada (19-28), in a quarter-final marked by the indiscipline of the Bleues, punished by three yellow cards.