THE Fiji Airways Fiji men’s 7s side beat France 19-17 to secure a spot in the semi-final of the Dubai 7s a few moments ago.
It was a repeat of the Paris 2024 Olympics final and memories of that heartbreaking loss to the French ran afresh as Osea Kolinisau’s brigade took the field in the third quarter-final.
Fiji started the match well and camped in the opponent’s half for the first couple of minutes.
France stood tall in defence and made some good tackles and were rewarded when Liam Delamare in for the first try as Fiji trailed 0-5 in the fifth minute of play.
Fiji replied straight off the restart as Filipe Sauturaga showed his speed to dot down under the posts to give Fiji a 7-5 lead. Sauturaga added his second before the break from a kick and chase effort to increase the lead to 14-5 at halftime.
Jordan Sepho and Victor Hannoun scored a try each for France in the 12th and 14th minute of play to put them in the lead 17-14 with merely seconds remaining on the clock.
Vuiviwa Naduvalo had the last say, showing his speed to win the match for Fiji in a thrilling finish as the clock ticked towards fulltime.
Meanwhile, Fiji will face Argentina at 10.28pm tonight.
