Olympic Rugby Sevens: ‘One man bomb squad’ Antoine Dupont and three other Frenchman feature in Mike Friday’s Dream Team
Split with Fiji's Selestino Ravutaumada, France's Antoine Dupont and South Africa Selvyn Davids.
The Men’s Rugby Sevens has come and gone at the Paris 2024 Olympics as quickly as it arrived, with the medals secured for the next four years.
It was a fairytale for France who secured a home Gold medal thanks to a brilliant cameo in the second half of the final by Antoine Dupont, which included two tries and a try assist.
The story was written in the stars and the French deserve their medal which saw Fiji lose their first game ever at the Olympics in the third playing of Rugby Sevens as they took home Silver. South Africa scored in the last minute against Australia to secure the Bronze.
As the dust settled on the Men’s competition, Planet Rugby’s James While spoke to the USA Men’s Sevens boss Mike Friday who picked his Dream Team.
Men’s Olympic Dream Team
Friday’s team is loaded with Frenchmen as four Les Bleus stars feature with two Fijians and a lone South African.
Selestino Ravutaumada (Fiji): A physical ball carrier who gave Fiji go-forward and purpose to their attacking game.
Antoine Zeghdar (France): He did so much aerial work at restart time for France but also his link work in attack and defensive work was critical for the French.
Andy Timo (France): The physicality he brought went up game on game – a wrecking ball in the final.
Antoine Dupont (France): One man bomb squad – loved his role and owned his role, a proper team player with big moments and big tries in the tournament.
‘Greatest of all time’: Fans laud Antoine Dupont following inspired Olympic Gold
Selwyn Davids (South Africa): The skipper was key to all that was good in South Africa’s game and the heartbeat of the Bronze medal push.
Iowane Teba (Fiji): Contributed heavily through his restarts which were huge, as was his attacking play for the Pacific side.
Aaron Grandidier (France): A cutting-edge finisher who scored important tries in big moments for his team.
Notable mentions
Five players got the nod from Friday as worthy mentions after a good week at the Olympics, with two Irishman, one New Zealander, one Australian and one American featuring.
Moses Leo (New Zealand)
Zac Ward (Ireland)
Terry Kennedy (Ireland)
Dietrich Roache (Australia)
Lucas Lacamp (USA)
