Global rugby superstar Antoine Dupont inspired France to a thrilling 26-14 Olympic sevens quarter-final win over Argentina on Thursday on a pulsating night at the Stade de France in Paris that also saw the mighty New Zealand suffer a shock exit.
Meanwhile, double gold medalists Fiji survived a huge scare from an outstanding Ireland, narrowly retaining their unvanquished Olympic record with a dramatic come-from-behind 19-15 win.
France had flattered to deceive in the pool phase, but finally justified their pretournament favorite tag, blitzing bitter rivals Argentina with three first-half tries.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Aaron Grandidier Nkanang wowed the crowd with two of these, the second an acrobatic dive into the corner that was arguably the best finish of the tournament so far.
Argentina, who had already been jeered at every match and received an extra loud hostile reception, pulled a try back early in the second half through Rodrigo Isgro.
This prompted French coach Jerome Daret to unleash the talismanic Dupont, seen by many as the world’s greatest 15-a-side player, with five minutes remaining.
Photo: AFP
A yellow card for Jordan Sepho came at the worst possible time for France and Los Pumas capitalized on the man advantage to pull back another try, setting up a nervy climax.
However, France hung on valiantly and Dupont put the icing on the cake with a fairytale solo effort after the buzzer to set up a semi-final against South Africa.
“Playing in a stadium like that gave me emotions I’ve never felt before in my life,” Grandidier Nkanang said. “I never imagined I would one day play in front of 69,000 people. Perhaps we finally realized we were playing at the Olympics — at home!”
Fiji had looked irresistible in the pool phases, turning around a poor season by their own high standards to rediscover their trademark flair.
The undisputed kings of sevens were on the board within a minute of their quarter-final against Ireland, Iosefo Baleiwairiki racing clear to touch down under the posts.
However, the expected procession failed to materialize and Ireland bounced back through Chay Mullins and then took an unlikely halftime lead, as Mark Roche bundled over the line.
Ireland extended their advantage early in the second half, Zac Ward squeezing into the corner, leaving Fiji with a mountain to climb in the last five minutes.
However, Fiji have never lost an Olympic rugby match and were not about to give up their crown easily, a Joji Nasova effort and a Waisea Nacuqu try from the restart handing them back the lead.
Ireland pressed desperately in the closing seconds, but Fiji clung on, as both sets of players sunk to their knees after a grueling encounter.
Ireland had been hoping to emulate South Africa, who dumped out rugby superpower and Tokyo silver medalists New Zealand in the night’s first quarter-final.
The All Blacks had beaten South Africa in their earlier Pool A clash, but it was the Blitzboks that took the lead this time, as veteran captain Selvyn Davids burst through two defenders to score under the posts.
Minutes later, Davids starred again, kicking from his own 22, outpacing Dylan Collier to the ball, securing possession and flipping up to Tristan Leyds for an easy dot down.
All Black Moses Leo hit back with a try to halve the New Zealand deficit on the stroke of halftime.
South Africa somehow survived wave after wave of All Black pressure to keep the second half scoreless to run out 14-7 winners — a huge achievement for a side who came through the repechage.
The final quarter-final of the night saw Australia see off the US in a relatively comfortable 18-0 win, setting up a last-four clash with Fiji.
Thursday’s atmosphere and drama was exactly what World Rugby had hoped for at the Paris Olympics, with chief executive Alan Gilpin saying the Games represented a “coming of age” moment for rugby sevens.
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