Antoine Dupont underlined why he is one of the faces of the Paris Olympics with a stunning solo try as France secured a spot in the quarter-finals of the men's rugby sevens.
While the opening ceremony does not take place until Friday, rugby sevens was chosen as one of the curtain-raising events to get the party started in the French capital.
A boisterous and celebratory atmosphere greeted the home players in a near-80,000 crowd in the nation's largest stadium. But France started tentatively with a 12-12 draw against the United States in their opening Pool C match.
A joyful mood then turned nervy as Uruguay led their second outing until scrum-half Dupont swung the game in their favour. His scurrying run, demonstrating both his speed and strength, put France 12-7 ahead and laid the platform for Les Bleus to go on and win 19-12.
Ireland have joined the hosts in the last eight after winning both of their Pool A matches on the first day of Games action.
Atmosphere lifts France through
Dupont is a megastar in the 15-a-side ranks, captain of his country and voted 2021 World Player of the Year, and switching to the smaller format has been a huge fillip for the event. The 27-year-old decided to skip the Six Nations earlier this year to prioritise his nation's bid for sevens glory on home soil.
After an initially frosty response, that decision appears to have eventually further endeared Dupont to the French public. The biggest sports paper, L'Equipe, lauded him over Wednesday’s front pages, before an idolising Stade de France crowd regularly chanted his name.
“The atmosphere was good and helped us to win,” said Dupont. “Maybe we did not do our best but hopefully it is going to help us more in the next game.
“We need to raise our level. If not, we will not go too far. We need to be focused on the game and not distracted, because we are capable of better.”
France are second in the pool, behind Fiji, with five points from their opening two matches. The top two teams from three pools go through to the knockout stage, while the two best third-placed sides also advance.
France next play defending Olympic champions Fiji, who beat both Uruguay and the US, in their final pool match on Thursday which means they are assured of qualification. Despite being drawn in what was seemingly a tough pool, Ireland breezed through without the need to beat New Zealand in their final match on Thursday.
James Topping's side, which also features 15-a-side converts such as Hugo Keenan, harbours hopes of a medal and illustrated why with an opening 10-5 win over South Africa.
That was backed up by an emphatic 40-5 victory over Japan to the delight of the Irish fans present.
— CutC by bbc.com
