Rugby 7s: with Antoine Dupont, the Blues triumph in Los Angeles

This can’t be a coincidence. Less than five months before the 2024 Paris Olympics, the French rugby sevens team won the world tournament again last night in Los Angeles, beating Great Britain 21-0 in the final. After 2005 and success in Paris, that is, 19 years, the Blues no longer felt the pleasant taste of victory. Their previous six finals had ended in the same number of defeats. This time around, France were able to add an X-factor to their cohesive squad, a player capable of making a difference at any moment and whose daily demands were always infectious.

That player is Antoine Dupont, one of the best, if not the best, player in world rugby. The scrum-half is sorely missing from Fabien Galthie’s Six Nations side but he’s having a great time on the other side of the world. Already third at the tournament in Vancouver last weekend, taking on the role of luxury wild card, this time he took a much more important part in his team’s success in California over the three days of competition.

Determined but out of breath during the semi-final against Ireland, Antoine Dupont started the final on the sidelines. “Playing three matches in one day in my second tournament is difficult,” he admitted. Without him in the first half, the French team got the job done, facing a British team in agony, exhausted and with a very full hospital. There were just 10 fit players in the UK at the start of the meeting, a symbol of the sport’s demands.

The French, unbeaten against their opponents this season (fourth win yesterday), are off to a cautious start but their collective quality will ultimately make the difference. Late in the first half, Antoine Zegdar broke free to equalize in the in-goal (7th). The British, having lost two new players due to injury, were running out of energy and chose to give up possession of the ball and go to the touchline in the middle of the field while the half-time siren sounded.

In the second half, the French left no doubt: long work from the Blues and several passes after contact brought Steven Pares (9th) over the line. There are less than five minutes left before the game, France leads 14-0, Antoine Dupont comes on the field. The British received a yellow card for a grotesque gesture to stop play, the Frenchman’s foot was held to prevent Theo Forner from taking a quick penalty (12th). . With the Blues outnumbered, they would increase their score and Dupont was perfectly positioned to send Forner home (14th).

Steven Parez was named the best player of the final and expressed his joy: “I don’t even have words, it’s incredible,” he said. We are growing every day, with every tournament. This is my 10th year at the circuit and this is my first victory in the final, I’m so happy. » The next tournament in Hong Kong (from April 5 to 7) will be held without Antoine Dupont, who is at the Toulousain stadium. And in less than five months the Olympic Games will take place, the organizing country of which is already France.