Antoine Dupont stars on sevens debut with last-gasp winning try for France in Vancouver
- Scrum-half’s score with the last play of the game sees off Ireland to send his side into the semi-finals of the Canada Sevens
- He has switched to sevens in the hope of playing in this year’s Olympics on home turf in Paris
Antoine Dupont scored a try deep into injury time to send France into the semi-finals of the Canada Sevens, as he continued his debut tournament on the HSBC SVNS circuit.
Dupont settled a tense quarter-final against Ireland with the final play of the game to edge it 12-5 at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium on Saturday, local time.
France’s regular 15-a-side captain and scrum-half has switched to sevens in the hope of playing in this year’s Olympics on home turf in Paris.
The former world player of the year, who came on as a substitute, burst down the blindside from a scrum to dot down in the corner for an opportunistic score.
It completed a gutsy comeback for France, who at one stage were reduced to five men after seeing both Joseph Jefferson Lee and Rayan Rebbadj pick up yellow cards in quick succession.
France, who set up a semi-final meeting against New Zealand on Sunday afternoon local time, had earlier dismantled Australia 31-5 in their final Pool B game, with Dupont among France’s five try-scorers.
A win over New Zealand could leave France facing a repeat of last year’s final, which they lost to Argentina.