France dump Blitzboks out of Olympic Sevens in the semifinals

The Blitzboks were dumped out of the running for the gold medal of the Olympic Games Sevens tournament by hosts France, after a disappointing 19-5 defeat in their semifinal at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday afternoon.

The game was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests, with the Blitzboks putting in a superb shift during the first half and first three minutes of the second, before they fell apart at the death to hand the French a famous win.

The Blitzboks still have a chance to walk away with a medal, but they will have to beat either Australia or Fiji in the Bronze medal match on Saturday night.

In the match it was a cagey affair in the first half with the Blitzboks and France both making mistakes, while it was the defences which came out on top.

France dominated territory and possession during the first five minutes, but were kept out by the monster Blitzboks defence, before the hosts were forced to defend their own line towards the end of the first half, which they managed to do as they went in all square without scoring.

Strong start

The Blitzboks then enjoyed a strong start to the second half and pinned France in their own 22m over the first three minutes.

They were eventually rewarded with the first try of the game, after a penalty at the breakdown in France’s 22m, Selvyn Davids took it quickly and the ball was spread wide where Tristan Leyds went over in the corner for the unconverted score.

France however hit straight back as they finally broke through the Blitzboks defensive line, with Ryan Rebbadj going over under the posts and converting his own try for a 7-5 lead with three minutes remaining.

Some Antoine Dupont magic then got France their second, as they claimed the kick-off, got into the Blitzboks 22m, earned a penalty and Dupont quick tapped and popped it to Rebbadj for his second converted score to take a 14-5 lead with time up.

With just the kick-off left the Blitzboks tried to finish strong by attacking from their own 22m, but they knocked the ball on near their line, allowing Jordan Sepho to swoop in and go over for the final score.

In earlier games two thrilling clashes were battled out in the fifth to eighth place playoffs, with Ireland and New Zealand sneaking through.

Ireland was pushed all the way but emerged with a tight 17-14 win over USA, while New Zealand was also forced to go the distance before beating Argentina 17-12.