China women earn place among rugby sevens elite, superstar Dupont inspires France success ahead of home Olympics
- Australia’s women claim championship after halting stunning New Zealand run in semi-final thriller
- Argentina fall short of men’s crown, as league winners fail to resist Dupont in Madrid final
China’s women stormed onto the global rugby sevens circuit following a comprehensive dismantling of Belgium at the HSBC SVNS Series grand finals in Madrid.
The Chinese won tight encounters with hosts Spain and rivals Japan before thumping Poland for a perfect pool campaign.
Their group clean sweep set up a playoff with Belgium for a spot in next year’s elite series.
First-half tries from Ma Xiaodan and Yang Feifei, both converted by Chen Keyi, put China in charge. Hu Yu crossed twice after half-time, and Sun Yue’s score emphasised the Asians’ superiority in a crushing 33-0 victory.
France, meanwhile, claimed the men’s championship crown to send an ominous warning to rivals hoping to prevent a home success at next month’s Paris Olympics.
The irrepressible Antoine Dupont took the final away from Argentina, after coming off the bench with France leading 7-5.
Stephen Parez-Edo Martin had crossed following Luciano Gonzalez’s sixth-minute try, setting the stage for France scrum-half Dupont, who has switched to sevens for an Olympic gold medal quest, to come on and steal the show.
Jefferson-Lee Joseph’s try gave France breathing space, before player-of-the-tournament Dupont’s quick feet and sharp pass ushered in Paulin Riva to complete a 19-5 win.
Argentine wing Rodrigo Isgro was shown a red card, as the South Americans’ excellent season, which featured three tournament victories to claim top spot in the league standings, finished on a sour note.
Dupont had been equally influential in France’s come-from-behind semi-final victory over Fiji, creating two second-half tries, as his team rallied from 14-7 down to win 21-7.
He scored a critical last-minute try in France’s must-win final pool match against Great Britain, too. His team were on the brink of an early exit when they trailed 12-5, but Dupont’s converted try, followed by Nelson Epee’s overtime score secured France’s progress.
“I hope it [the Olympics] will be a huge tournament for us,” Dupont said. “Obviously, we want to win but there are many other countries who want to win as well. We have two months now to work as hard as we can and, hopefully, we will be ready come July.”
Reigning Olympic champions Fiji beat New Zealand 17-10 in the bronze medal match to rescue some pride following an underwhelming season.
The All Blacks won the closing two tournaments on the regular circuit, but were off-colour in Spain, where they squeezed through their pool before losing 21-14 to Argentina in the last four.
In the women’s tournament, the New Zealand juggernaut was finally brought to a halt by old rivals Australia.
The Black Ferns beat Australia in the final of last month’s Singapore Sevens to wrap up a fourth straight tournament success, and pip their opponents to the league title.
Australia turned the tables in dramatic fashion when the teams met in the Madrid semi-finals.
New Zealand led 19-7 with less than one minute remaining, but Faith Nathan finished off a daring attack, before Australia were rewarded for going straight for the New Zealand line from the restart, when Madison Levi touched down to level the scores.
Tia Hinds nailed the conversion to book a much more straightforward final meeting with France. Levi scored a hat-trick to ease Australia to a 26-7 victory, after the teams were locked at 7-7 going into the second half.
New Zealand beat Canada 26-14 in the third-placed match.
China’s women will be joined in next year’s world series by fellow playoff winners Spain, Japan, and Brazil. Next for the Chinese, who are unbeaten in 21 Challenger and World Series matches, is the Olympic repechage tournament, which begins in Monaco on June 21.
USA, Kenya, Uruguay, and Spain won the men’s matches for places on the 2025 global circuit.
