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Olympic gold medallists France unveiled at Champions Park in Paris
By Josh Raisey
France fans packed out the Champions Park on Monday to welcome their victorious Olympic rugby sevens side following their win over Fiji on Saturday.
The stands were full at Trocadéro Gardens at the foot of the Eiffel Tower as the players were unveiled with their gold medals around their necks.
The squad paraded up the walkway chanting 'allez les bleus' and 'we are champions' together with the crowd.
An Antoine Dupont-inspired France team beat the then-reigning champions Fiji 28-7 on Saturday in front of a rapturous Stade de France, and the celebrations continued into Monday.
The win was France's first gold medal of the Olympics this year.
Reflecting on the year France have had, which saw them win the Los Angeles SVNS and the HSBC SVNS Series Grand Final as well, head coach Jerome Daret said (translated by Google): "This is unheard of. For rugby sevens, it’s a superb showcase. The atmosphere was crazy. It's incredible and super powerful.
"We have placed rugby sevens on the map of French rugby and on the map of Olympic sport in the best possible way.
"We went looking for gold in Los Angeles, we found the vein and we exploited it in Madrid with the title of world champion and now that of Olympic champion. It’s awesome and powerful!
"I have difficulty understanding everything that has happened since the final whistle. The players were incredible. The staff also who created a crazy journey, relying on very high-quality consultants.
"It’s a whole package to perform and everything has been beneficial. It's a war machine."
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Latest Comments
The first half penalties against NZ were for speculative tackling because England were attacking so flat. If NZ didn't do this then it may have been tries and not penalties conceded earlier. I believe Felix Jones is still helping with the transition online. It was quite clear he wasn't helping in person with Earls in particular shooting up and leaving huge holes. NZ had a few that nearly stuck but the two tries by Telea were defensive errors. Furbank biting on Sititi leaving Genge to mark. Genge wont show Telea the outside again. Poor tacking on Telea for the second. That said he is a hard man to grab hold of.
Isolating Genge was clever for Jordans try. NZ spotted he defended wide too often and they could leave a gap with that switch play. 6 day turnaround for Ireland now.
I imagine NZ will be better, but they will need to be a lot better.
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