Paris 2024 Olympics: Blues rugby sevens team defeats Fiji and takes bronze in Singapore

The French women’s rugby sevens team takes comfort. Having lost to the Australians in the semi-finals of the tournament in Singapore this Sunday morning (12-19), the Blues made up for it by claiming bronze in the third place match played later in the morning.

David Courteix’s men largely won (29-7) against Fiji after little attacking play, scoring 5 tries. Led by the excellent Serafina Okemba, who scored a brace in the first period, the Tricolors went into the break with a 17:7 lead. A lead they consolidated late in the match thanks in part to a try from Carla Neisen. .

Third in the world rankings behind New Zealand and Australia, the French, having lost several leaders for this Asian leg (Anne-Cecile Ciofani, Joanna Griset, Caroline Drouin, Chloe Jacquet), missed another opportunity to win the first tournament in their history.

Unlucky finalists in Cape Town in December and Vancouver in February, Okemba and her partners will still be in Madrid a month later for the circuit’s grand final (May 31-June 2), the final tournament before the 2024 Paris Olympics. where they will aim for a medal like in 2021 in Tokyo where they won silver.

Earlier in the morning, the men, without Antoine Dupont, who plays Toulouse in the Champions Cup semi-final against Harlequins this Sunday, finished their tournament in 8th place. After being defeated by Great Britain in the quarter-finals on Saturday, the Blues lost to the United States in the classification match (19-17).