France are through to the quarter-finals at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens after scoring a practically full-field match-winner in the dying stages of their clash with Kenya on Saturday morning, which saw them triumph 14-7.
Kenya had stood of the cusp of a famous HSBC SVNS Series upset only moments earlier as they packed down for an attacking scrum with two minutes to play. They unleashed wave after wave of attacking pressure, but France didn’t waver during 80 seconds of desperate defence.
An error brought an end to Kenya’s relentlessness in attack, but France still had a lot of work to do in a bid to qualify for the quarters. After going down to Great Britain and Spain on day one, Les Bleus Sevens needed a moment of magic from one of their sevens heroes.
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Enter Nelson Epee.
Epee got the ball with eight seconds left but the try line seemed like an eternity away, yet Epee defied the odds delivered when France needed someone to stand tall. The flyer offered a well-worked spin move before kicking the ball ahead.
After a ‘soccer kick’ ahead off the ground, Epee continued to chase, but it was teammate Mateo Garcia who won that race. In one of the first games on day two, France had delivered one of the highlights of the event so far while booking their place in the next round.
“It was really important for us because we wanted to go into the quarters and we knew that we only had to win that game to go [through],” France’s Antoine Zeghdar told RugbyPass.
“We tried to have the possession because yesterday we didn’t have the possession so it’s very hard to win the game.
“Now we’ve put our hands on the ball and we’re into the quarters so we’re very delighted about this.”
France have qualified for the quarters as one of the top two third-placed sides with five points, which included two bonus points from their matches on day one. They had started their campaign with a shock 12-7 loss to Great Britain before falling to Spain later on.
But that’s in the past now.
It’s all about what happens next with the quarter-finals only a matter of hours away at the time of writing.
“It was also the combativity and intensity at the breakdown,” Zeghdar added.
“We wanted to be better in that sector and I think we did it so we’re happy to be in the quarter-finals now.”
All teams on the SVNS Series are looking to “evolve” and grow across the coming weeks ahead of the World Championship event in Los Angeles on May 3-4. That is a winner takes all tournament, with France looking to replicate their heroics from last season.
After a fifth-placed finish on the overall Series standings, France ended up taking out the overall Series title at the season finale in Madrid. It was an enthralling battle with Argentina which determined the champion, with Antoine Dupont playing a starring role.
Once again, France are fifth on the standings and they’re looking to use the Hong Kong Sevens and next weekend’s event round-robin finale in Singapore as a chance to improve with LA’s World Championship the end goal for all teams.
“I think it’s important to evolve during the year,” he added.
“Now we are getting close to the [World Championship] so we have to play our better rugby and I hope we’ll get it for Los Angeles.
“If we put our hands on the ball, we’re a very difficult team to defend I think.”
LA’s Dignity Health Sports Park will host the World Championship and SVNS Series playoffs on May 3-4. Don’t miss out – buy your tickets HERE.
