France issue Olympics warning after Dupont-less show in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong final didn’t go as wanted for France, but the experience of losing 7-12 to New Zealand amid a raucous atmosphere should serve them well when it comes to managing the likely similarly intoxicating din of their home Olympics tournament at the end of July.

Support for the French was abundant in the Far East decider but there was a franticness to their play in this sold-out decider compared to the precision that transpired last month when they won a first title in 19 years in front of a limited Los Angeles audience where the atmosphere was far less intense.

The LA champions battled their way to 0-0 at the break on Sunday night, but they then came unstuck. It wasn’t the opening try off a quickly tapped penalty that was finished four passes later in the corner by Scott Curry that did for them – there was always a chance of coming back from 0-7 down in the blink of an eye.

However, they curiously lost their composure after gathering the restart kick, a facet of the game they had managed brilliantly against Ireland in the semi-finals.

There was a debate over whether Joachim Troubabal got his knee to the ground five metres in from touch near the 10-metre line. If so, the referee should have called a ruck, forcing the three New Zealanders who had snagged him to release, allow him to go to the ground and set up the ball for recycling.

Play on was the decision, though, and the ball squirting loose backwards towards the 22 was followed by the panicked Stephen Parez, the scorer of the key try against the Irish when the yellow-carded French were down to six players before half-time, who blindly threw a reverse pass, inviting Brady Rush to intercept and Cody Vai to score.

France did eventually break their duck at the death with about two seconds remaining through Varian Pasquet.

There was another debate that Pasquet should have immediately shouted ‘no kick’ to the referee to decline the conversion, which could have left time for a restart with the score at 5-12 – but it was too late as they were all out of time out with the final whistle sounding as soon as the extras were added by Rayan Rebbadj.

Beaten but very much not bowed, though. There is a very encouraging, focused sense of unity about this French outfit.

For instance, Antoine Zeghdar, who hobbled off with a left leg injury in the first of the final, was assisted up the steps of the Hong Kong Stadium stand by Pasquet and Rebbadj to make sure he was part of the post-match presentation. That was a very nice touch.

The French are definitely on the rise and very much in with a gold medal shout in 15 weeks at the Stade de France. “We have the potential to achieve incredible things,” insisted Aaron Grandidier, the late-blooming, London-born speedster who only played his first rugby match of any kind at the age of 17.

Soon-to-be 24, he has rapidly zipped through the gears, bagging a move to Brive and then selection in the French sevens team where he wears the No9 shirt.

Now he is just months away from challenging at the Olympics. “It’s a shame we weren’t able to put it together in the final. We learned a lot and will come back stronger."

Grandidier is no sevens slouch. When speaking with RugbyPass the previous night after his slick South Stand try helped France edge Spain in the quarter-finals, his enthusiasm was infectious.

“I found myself in the middle of the pitch and tried to take it outside, but I saw that they were over-chasing so a big right foot stepped opened it up to the try line.

“Oh my God, that’s the stuff of dreams; the stuff of dreams! I’d to pull out a little Jude Bellingham celebration but amazing, Amazing! What an atmosphere in this stadium!!”

Perhaps the biggest takeaway for the French from Hong Kong was that they sure aren’t a team dependent on the fantastic Antoine Dupont. The Test XV scrum-half gave the Guinness Six Nations a miss so that he could try out sevens with the hope of his country succeeding at Paris 2024.

France ended their near two-decade sevens title famine with Dupont on-song on LA, but he didn’t travel to the Far East as his weekend’s priority was steering Toulouse beyond Racing and into the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals, which he did.

In Dupont’s absence, though, the French kept their American vibe going nicely, making the final and enjoying tasty wins over Australia and Ireland along the way. “We did well in LA last month and it’s not something random,” vouched Jonathan Laugel to RugbyPass in the Hong Kong Stadium tunnel.

“It’s happening because it is paying off and we need to keep that consistency going again and again. I’m sure Antoine Dupont is still with us, but we are a big group with more than 25 guys who are training.

“Some are having some rest because of injury, some were there at our skills camp so it is a big group and Antoine Dupont is part of that group now as well and I’m sure he is proud of us. To continue that performance (from LA) shows it’s not something random.

“It’s awesome to see all the audience, all the public who is with us, and I’m sure Antoine brought something to this. He brought the light on our team.

"It is even more impactful when you have the likes of Antoine, but it remains really impactful even when he is not there so it is just a big group moving together for the victory towards Paris 2024.”