Dupont stardust has France dreaming of rugby sevens gold

LONDON : The arrival of Antoine Dupont has elevated France to real gold medal contenders in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics as the superstar scrumhalf hopes to help his country move on from their heartbreaking failure at the XVs World Cup last year.

An open-looking men's tournament gets underway at the Stade de France on July 24, two days before the opening ceremony, with the final on July 27, but Dupont will be the centre of attention.

There is generally not much crossover between the two versions of the sport but such is Dupont's talent and versatility that he not only dropped into the Sevens squad seamlessly but has lifted France to unimagined levels.

Having previously shown scant interest in the format, with Dupont on board France won in Los Angeles this year for their first world series triumph in 19 years.

He then skipped back to his club Toulouse to help them win the European Champions Cup final and a week later was back in the Sevens team, driving France to victory in the new season-ending Grand Final.

France suffered an agonizing quarter-final loss to South Africa in their home Rugby World Cup last October in the XV's format, and while a Sevens gold in Paris will never erase that pain it would certainly get the Olympics off to a flying start for the host nation.

In the Grand Final in Madrid on June ,2 France beat Argentina, who had topped the regular season standings for the first time and the South Americans will be strong podium contenders in Paris.

Fiji took third in Madrid, lifting the mood after a dire season for a country that considers Rugby Sevens its national sport.

Fiji won their first Olympic gold in any sport with the men's Sevens in 2016 and retained the title in Tokyo.

However, they have just had their