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Olympic Sevens rugby final match up confirmed as Blitzbokke stumble
By Philip Bendon
The final for the 2024 Olympic rugby sevens has been confirmed with hosts France set to face defending champions Fiji.
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.
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.
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Latest Comments
I still don't think that amounts to a significant loss aside from the three you highlighted but again, had clubs not gone bust and central contracts the landscape would be different. Going forwards I don't see many players leaving and those that do are a sacrifice worth making to keep the premiership strong but you agree with that anyway. When you consider the number of SH players playing abroad, England are doing a good job of retaining talent and that is likely to improve with the new system.
Go to commentsHow did Marx get in? He's been a bench man for the Boks and has only played over 40 minutes for them three times this year out of his 12 games.
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