PARIS (Reuters) -France claimed their first gold medal of their own Olympics and first of any kind in men’s rugby sevens when Antoine Dupont led them to a stunning 28-7 win over double-defending champions Fiji on an unforgettable night in the Stade de France on Saturday.
Fiji had won all 17 of their previous matches in the Olympics and were hot favourites to complete a hat-trick of titles against a team that did not even qualify for Tokyo, but the bookmakers reckoned without the remarkable Dupont, who took a sabbatical from the national XV team to join the sevens project.
He might have been on the pitch for only seven minutes but Dupont’s impact was immense, tearing open a game level at 7-7 by setting up the try that put France ahead and then scoring two himself.
It sparked an extraordinary scenes, as the crowd roared and the players danced on the pitch.
