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Olympic Sevens rugby final match up confirmed as Blitzbokke stumble
The final for the 2024 Olympic rugby sevens has been confirmed with hosts France set to face defending champions Fiji.
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Trailing following the opening half as South Africa scored through Tristan Leyds, France called upon Antoine Dupont early in the second half. This change would prove to be the catalyst for a dominant showing from the hosts, who scored three tries through Rayan Rebbadj (2) and Jordan Sepho to secure a 19 – 7 win.
In semi-final two, Fiji overcame a tight first half to secure a comfortable 31 – 7 victory over Australia.
Deadlocked at 7 – 7 at halftime, the match looked set to go down to the wire, but as they have done all tournament, the defending champions burst into life. Taking the lead inside one minute into the second half through Losefo Baleiwairiki, the Fijians were firmly in the ascendancy.
Scoring two more converted tries through Kaminieli Rasaku and Selesitino Ravutaumada to go with a penalty from Terio Veilawa Tamani, Fiji romped to third successive Olympic final.
Outside of the semi-finals, a late Terry Kennedy try secured Ireland’s 17 – 14 win over the USA, booking their place in the fifth-place play-off.
Facing Ireland in the 5th place play-off will be New Zealand, who took the spoils when the two sides met in the final match of Pool A. Securing their place in the 5th place final, New Zealand overcame Argentina when Andrew Knewstubb scored four minutes into overtime.
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Kicking off the final series this afternoon, Uruguay will face Japan in the 11th-place play-off at 15.30, followed by the 10th-place play-off between Samoa and Kenya.
The bronze medal-deciding match between South Africa and Australia will begin tonight at 18.00 local time before France and Fiji conclude the tournament in the gold medal final at 18.45 local time.
The French crowd so disrespectful. Goes against the spirit of the sport
Brave effort Blitz Boks, but went exactly like I suspected. Wasn't good enough in the past couple of seasons. Since coach Neil Powell left, you went from champs to very average. Truth be told, a new coach needed A.S.A.P. SARU screwed up. It’s Olympics, the country’s pride is on the line. Was it the best team that could go to the Olympics? No. We have star Bok players, like Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and others that played sevens before, who came from that scene. They should have been invited to join the sevens this year, same as Dupoint of France. Would the results have been different? Definitely. SARU should have invited them, paid the club's whatever release fees necessary to get those players. In saying all this, I also have to be fair. There is no guarantee the result of the semi would have been different, and even if you made it to the final, the Fijians is the masters of this sevens game scene. We might have lost anyway. These players are the ones who played hard and worked hard for this opportunity to be in the Olympics. They deserve to be there. Tough luck boys, hope you get the bronze, and even if you don't, you can hold your heads high!💯
Du Pont looks so at home in sevens. He should stay there.