French lean on Dupont’s influence in bid for glory
France and Ireland completed gritty last-eight victories to set up what should be a bar-clearing semi-final today. The two teams clashed in a barnstorming lastfour game in Los Angeles last month when France, inspired by crossover superstar Antoine Dupont, won 26-24.
Ireland might spy a Dupontshaped hole in the French contingent in Hong Kong, and fancy their chances of moving one step closer to a first global series title.
But Aaron Grandidier, who scored the third try that finally put dogged Spain to bed in a quarter-final far more competitive than the 24-10 scoreline suggested, said the influence of Dupont was stamped though his team.
“He brings a lot of experience, even though that experience is not from the sevens world,” Grandidier said.
“You can tell in the highpressure moments, he has lived through hundreds of them, and that has given us a real level-headedness.” That composure was tested when Jamie Manteca went over to give Spain, semi-finalists in Los Angeles, a 10-7 lead after 10 minutes.
The French players strewn across the whitewash disconsolately placed their hands on their knees, to a man. The impression of a beaten team was wildly misleading, however. Nelson Epee and Grandidier scored quick-fire tries, each completing the act with a gleeful swallow dive, before Jordan Sepho crossed at the death.
Grandidier, who said the exuberant try celebrations were the result of “wanting to enjoy the last time in this iconic stadium as much as possible”, insisted there was no sense of needing to prove France could win without Dupont, following success in LA.
Grandidier warned that France would have to match Ireland’s aggression in the lastfour encounter, or “have a really bad time”.
USA did give as good as they got against the Irish, but still lost a tense quarter-final in extra time after Terry Kennedy completed a hat-trick of tries to win the game.
Ireland sit second in the HSBC SVNS season standings, but are waiting for their first tournament victory. They will target glory in Hong Kong five years to the day since beating the hosts to rise to core status on the elite circuit.
“We knew it was going to be a tough slog, but we showed character, resilience and belief,” Kennedy, world sevens player of the year in 2022, said.