World series leaders Australia have been stunned by France in the women’s semi-finals of the Vancouver Sevens on Monday (AEDT).
Superstar Maddison Levi gave Australia hope with her second try just before fulltime but Dom du Toit missed the conversion.
It meant France held on for a 21-19 victory as a heartbroken du Toit said “sorry” to her teammates.
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“We didn’t respect possession all tournament and that will always cost you in any ball sport,” Australia coach Tim Walsh said.
“Our defence was solid and generally kept us in games – however it was not a polished performance by any stretch.
“It was good to be able to provide much needed minutes to developing and returning players – forced and planned – building our combinations for Los Angeles and beyond.
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“Tia Hinds, Bella Nasser, Kaitlin Shave, Lily Dick and Sidney Taylor will all benefit from the Vancouver experience.”
On the back of a Portia Woodman-Wickliffe hat trick New Zealand beat France 35-19 in the final to defend their Vancouver title while Australia finished fourth after losing 19-14 to Canada in the third place playoff.
Meanwhile, the outstanding Antoine Dupont has taken the first steps in his bid to help France win gold at the Paris Olympics.
The 27-year-old is widely considered the world’s best men’s rugby player and tore up Vancouver in his first sevens tournament.
He is a former world player of the year, a three time Six Nations player of the year and was one of the stars at last year’s Rugby World Cup in France despite needing surgery for a facial fracture.
Dupont came off the bench throughout in Vancouver and nearly inspired France to a comeback win over NZ in the men’s semis.
He scored his first sevens try against Australia in pool play.
“Can he make the switch? I think he’s answered that… the strength of the man, unbelievable,” Karl Te Nana said on Stan.
“His first weekend of rugby sevens, he looks completely at home,” Rupert Cox added.
Dupont also starred in France’s 42-12 win over the United States in the third place playoff.
But NZ hung on for a 28-26 win in the semis before losing 36-12 to outstanding world series leaders Argentina in the final.
Argentina beat the United States 35-19 in the semis.
Australia’s men finished a disappointing 10th, losing 24-7 to South Africa in their final playoff match.
“After a couple of good tournaments this was a timely reminder of how hard this competition is, and if you’re off you get punished,” Australia coach John Manenti said.
“Our lack of respect for possession was our undoing – we created enough opportunities to win games.
“There’s going to be some serious soul searching this week, and we’ll bounce high for Los Angeles.”
Michael Hooper is in Vancouver but did not play.
The former Wallabies captain is recovering from injury and said he was a slim chance of featuring next weekend in Los Angeles.
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