Rugby 7 (F): France silver, New Zealand win

Cock Doodle Doo! Despite their defeat in the final to the New Zealanders (26-12), the Blues won their first Olympic medal in rugby sevens history and France brought their 17th magic to this Olympics.

Great team from France. Winner from Great Britain in the semi-finals earlier in the day (26-19), the Bleues of Rugby 7 were sure to pin their first Olympic medal on their hunting list. A performance made possible by the offensive performances of Ciofani and Okemba, untenable since the beginning of the competition and the authors of three attempts between them are still in the semi-finals. For the gold medal, the French found New Zealand, another famous plateau attack and surprise win for Fiji in overtime (22-17). As outsiders as Camille Grasino’s teammates could legitimately believe, they beat the Blacks twice during the seven world championships in Japan and Dubai in 2019.

Black is stronger than blue

It was the French who started this match. Despite a strong defense in the first action, the Habs conceded the first attempt after a breakthrough from Blyde (7-0, 2). If the French reacted quickly with Darwin’s achievement (7-5, 4), the New Zealanders made the difference before the break. Two attempts by Broughton and Floehler gave the Blacks a 19-5 lead in the first half.

At the beginning of the second period, Ciofani tried to drive the revolution with an attempt at the end of the line (19-12, 9), but the blacks were taken to sea thanks to an attempt by their leader Nathan Wong (26-12, 12). Although the last attempt was turned down in their favour, the New Zealanders finally won 26-12 and became Olympic champions. And so they succeed Australia. Punished so severely during this meeting, the Blues couldn’t really hope for the best, but nonetheless gave an impressive medal to the French team and their captain Fanny Horta, who was playing the last game of his rich career.