Team USA opens Olympics with draw with host France in Rugby 7s
The United States rallied to tie host France to open the Olympic Rugby 7s tournament before ending the first day with a 40-12 loss to Fiji.
Two days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Team USA already has a sizable result.
Provo native Maka Unufe helped the United States rally for a 12-12 draw with France in Wednesday’s opening match of Pool C play.
Lucas Lacamp and Marcus Tupuola each scored a try for the Eagles, who fell behind 12-7 in the second half through Rayan Rebbad’s try just 32 seconds in.
But Tupuola score the equalizer in the fifth minute of the half, then helped recover a turnover in the final minute as France looked to score the go-ahead try in the final minute — a turnover that Unufe, a Provo High graduate who played previously for Utah Warriors Club 7s and briefly with Houston Sabercats in Major League Rugby, helped stun the near-capacity crowd at the Stade de France on the opening day of the Summer Games.
"We messed up back in Tokyo, didn't come out of the quarterfinal with a win, so sometimes you want to give it one more push. That's why we're back,” said USA Eagles captain Kevon Williams after the match. “Tokyo didn't have a single seat filled, and playing here, not a single seat was empty. Not all the fans are here for us, but we still feed off that energy.
"There are a lot of athletes in the village, we get to communicate and see a lot of people. We haven't been able to do too much because we play first so we're a little more serious now. We have about four days and then we can enjoy the real Olympic experience. Until then, we're focused in, zeroed in, trying to get us a medal."
While the tie was considered something of a victory by the Americans, it was categorized as a “disappointment” for France.
“To draw with the host nation with all those fans in the stadium,” U.S. wing Perry Baker told the Washington Post, “just a test of who the boys are and our character to stay in the fight.”
France rugby sevens was considered among the nation’s top hopes for a team medal, perhaps even gold, in the tournament. Not taking a win against a United States squad that was routed 28-7 by South Africa in the team’s last formal international match, the fifth-place match in Tokyo in 2021.
Instead, the group was handed to Fiji, which upended the Americans 38-12 in the second match of Group C after a 40-12 victory over Uruguay in the Fijians’ own opener.
Orrin Bizer and Perry Baker each scored a try for the United States, which will wrap up group play Thursday at 7 a.m. MT against Uruguay.
The top two teams from each of three pools of four each will advance to bracket play with the two best third-place finishers to fill out the eight-team bracket.
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