A golden finish for greatest showman
ANTOINE Dupont cemented himself as one of the greatest cross-code rugby players of all time as his second half performance guided France to an Olympic gold medal.
France’s Sevens team failed to qualify for Tokyo 2020 but, in front of 70,000 adoring fans and millions across the world, they secured one of the greatest moments in French rugby history.
Olympic 7s giants Fiji‘s incredible run of never being beaten in the competition, with a 17-match win streak, came to an end as the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo winners came unstuck against their hosts.
The Stade de France sold out across all three days of the competition, illustrating the nation’s rugby fever, witnessed France’s rugby heroes being on hand to deliver the nation’s first gold medal of the Games.
Fiji made a dream start and quietened the lively crowd as offloads combined with powerful carries allowed Joseva Talacolo to score under the sticks.
Iowane Teba secured the easy conversion but France hit back as Andy Timo broke through the defence and presented Fiji with a taste of their own medicine as a chicken wing offload fed Jordan Joseph’s seven-pointer on the stroke of half-time.
The face of the Paris Games Dupont came off the bench in the second half and the Toulouse star made an instant impact from the second half kick off.
Dupont made a surging break round the outside, goose stepped, and fed Aaron Grandidier to score, who orchestrated the original move with a leaping take off the restart.
Fiji were winning penalties but kept taking them from the wrong position which delayed their momentum with play getting called back by strict referee Jordan Way, which played into France’s hands.
France turned on the pressure but courageous defence by the Fijians kept the contest at a one-score game.
Legendary Fiji star Jerry Tuwai, aiming to become the first rugby player to win three Olympic golds and end his Games record unbeaten, shook off a nasty leg injury with Fiji’s backs against the wall.
However, this was Dupont’s show and the magician continues to evolve his game, taking a quick tap and powering over Fiji defenders to take France to gold. And Toulouse’s titan wasn’t done, continuing to defy belief and the scrum-half turned into a hooker, going over off the back of a rolling maul to inflict a surprisingly heavy scoreline on Fiji.
