PARIS: Antoine Dupont inspired France to a historic 28-7 win over two-time Olympic champions Fiji in a pulsating rugby sevens final Saturday, giving the hosts their first gold of the Paris Games.
Dupont, seen by many as the world's best 15-a-side player, came off the bench to mastermind an extraordinary second-half performance that saw him score twice and create another try for Fiji's first-ever Olympic loss.
"It's a huge reward for us, for rugby, for all the country," an ecstatic Dupont told reporters afterwards.
"We really felt that we were representing not only rugby but the whole of French sport. We are really proud to start off the Olympics like that," he added.
Fiji got off to a flying start, breaking several French tackles and offloading sweetly to release Joseva Talacolo for a try under the posts with just over one minute on the clock.
But to the delight of a raucous Stade de France crowd, Les Bleus were quickly back on terms, Andy Timo delivering a perfectly timed pass out of contact to enable Jefferson-Lee Joseph to dot down.
French coach Jerome Daret started star man Dupont on the bench, as he has for most of the tournament, but unleashed his main playmaker at half-time with the sides level.
The impact was immediate.
Dupont broke down the wing from the restart, outpacing Fijian legend Jerry Tuwai to run half the length of the pitch and pop a try-scoring pass inside to Aaron Grandidier Nkanang.
And who else but Dupont was on hand to win it for France, a quick tap penalty catching the Fijian defence napping and darting himself under the posts.
Not content with that, Dupont dotted down after the buzzer to send the Stade de France crowd berserk with President Emmanuel Macron watching from the VIP stands.
After the match, Daret hailed the "exceptional" Dupont.
Explaining the strategy of bringing him on from the bench, Daret said: "I think that just the fact of bringing him onto the pitch puts a lot of pressure on the opposition."
Dupont had raised eyebrows when he opted out of this season's Six Nations to concentrate on winning Olympic sevens gold but the gamble paid off gloriously.
"It's sensational, it's incredible. It's a big reward for us, for all my teammates who really deserve it," said Dupont.
"I think I will enjoy my holiday and afterwards we start a new season. I'm still young and I have a lot of work to do," said Dupont, who also skippered Toulouse to Top 14 and Champions Cup glory in the 15-a-side code this season.
For Fiji, where rugby sevens is hugely popular, the impact of losing their only ever Olympic match was clearly visible.
"We came for the gold but we have to settle for the silver... We apologise for falling short to a very good French side," a visibly emotional Tuwai told reporters.
Earlier Saturday, South Africa fought off a determined comeback effort from Australia to claim the bronze medal 26-19.
World Rugby executives have hailed the Paris Olympics as a "coming of age" moment for rugby sevens, which was introduced at the 2016 Rio Games.
They estimate that up to 550,000 fans will pack the Stade de France over the eight sessions of both the men's and women's tournaments.
"I think it's everything we could have hoped for," World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin told AFP on Saturday, with the dream final between the hosts and the undisputed kings of sevens.
The women's event kicks off on Sunday, with Australia and New Zealand seen as clear favourites.--AFP