Antoine Dupont once again waited for 'right moment' as France star keeps Olympic dream alive
Dupont celebrates with his France teammates in the quarter final win over Argentina
©Mike Lee - KLC fotos for World Rugby
It was something which Mike Friday said that possibly encapsulated the impact Antoine Dupont had on the Olympic Games on Thursday evening.
In the aftermath of Dupont's debut for France on the HSBC SVNS Series circuit back in February, the USA 7s head coach told TRU: “What I will say about him is, he came in and more importantly he didn’t look out of place in Vancouver [Dupont's first tournament].
"He didn’t set the world alight but that’s the mark of the man. He didn’t try to. He tried to fit into the system, do his job, be selfless for the team and wait for the right moments."
The final two lines of Friday's quotes applied to Thursday's Olympic rugby sevens quarter-final in Paris as Dupont came off the bench to seal a 26-14 victory over Argentina to set up a last-four meeting with South Africa on Saturday.
Ever since France's star man decided to miss the Six Nations in order to pursue Olympic glory, from the outside looking in, there has been nothing selfish about the 27-year-old.
No arm waving, no gesturing to the bench, no arguing with teammates. Nothing.
And what about 'waiting for the right moment?' Well, France had raced into a 21-0 lead before Argentina showed the class that saw them finish top of the HSBC SVNS standings as Rodrigo Isgró and Marcos Moneta went over.
With two minutes remaining, France's Jordan Sepho was sin-binned for a high tackle but up stepped Dupont who darted through a gap to clinch the win and send a passionate home crowd potty.
France were, of course, the hosts for last year's Rugby World Cup where the atmosphere in the Stade de France was certainly bouncing at times.
But during their quarter-final success over Argentina, it sounded like the national stadium had found an extra level in terms of volume.
Dupont's second-half try was met by an explosion of noise as arguably the best player on the planet kept his Olympic dream alive but the elation may also have been a by-product of the growing recent tension between France and Argentina - due to a race row across both rugby and football - which has spilt into the Games.
The South Americans were loudly booed on the opening day of rugby sevens and that continued against France but the jeering quickly changed to the cheering of the partisan ground.
Andy Timo scored France's first try after four minutes before Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang - who represented Old Elthamians in National One in 2018/19 - went over for two excellent scores in as many minutes.
Argentina's double after the interval only added to the narrative for Dupont as his trademark intelligence caught the Los Pumas defence off guard and sent the Stade de France into raptures.
France’s Grandidier-Nkanang said: "I’m really proud of the team. When we struggle it’s hard, but we did well tonight.
“Maybe we realised that we are playing the Olympic Games at home. Maybe we got back that hunger that we didn’t have on the first day.
“I know we only won the quarter-final, but to play in a stadium like this, I never felt that in my life. To play in front of 69,000 people is something I could not imagine doing in my whole life.
“I know there is still a long way to go, but that moment gave us crazy emotions. I was almost in tears at the end. Thanks to the fans, I don’t have the words."
The impact Dupont is having on the host nation and rugby sevens itself felt like it went up a notch on Thursday evening.
Cold water may have been poured on the fervour surrounding France after their 12-12 draw with the United States on the opening day and then their gritty victory over Uruguay.
That was then followed by their 19-12 loss to Fiji earlier on Day Two, but the energy and excitement which Les Bleus Sevens can harness from their win over Argentina could be worth its weight in gold if Dupont's Olympic dream is to come true.
Elsewhere, Fiji will face Australia in the other semi-final after the double Olympic champions battled past a spirited Ireland 19-15 while the Wallabies defeated USA 18-0.
South Africa's route to the last four saw them stun Tokyo silver medallists New Zealand 14-7.
