Argentina miss out on medals at rugby sevens after loss to France

2024-07-25 23:28:02

PARIS (AP) — Argentina lost its chance to return to the Olympic rugby sevens podium with a 26-14 loss to France on Thursday.

The home side completed a near-flawless first half to the delight of the 69,000 spectators at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

Aaron Grandidier had two shots on goal for France and Andy Thimo added another in the first half. cried Antoine Dupont in agony.

Unlike France’s dominance in last June’s World Series final in Madrid, Argentina tied the score in the second half with scores from its two best players, Rodrigo Isgro and Marcos Moneta. 21-14.

But with just over two minutes left in the game, Argentina had the numerical advantage but were unable to regain possession of the ball thanks to Jordan Sefo’s penalty in one of the contests.

On the contrary, the French team took the lead, and Dupont successfully broke through 25 meters to complete the game.

Argentina captain Santiago Alvarez said: “France had a great first half but we gave it away. In the quarter-finals we can’t do that.”

Argentina, a bronze medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will compete in Saturday’s consolation match for fifth through eighth places.

The French group will face the South African team in the semi-finals. The South African team defeated the New Zealand team 14-7.

The other semi-final opponents are Fiji and Australia.

Fiji came from behind to beat Ireland 19-15 to remain in contention for their third consecutive Rugby Sevens gold medal.

France and Australia will compete in the semifinals for the first time. South Africa, who last month became the last of 12 teams to qualify, will reach the semi-finals for the first time since the sevens debuted in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Australia defeated the United States 18-0 to advance.

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