No final for the Blues, beaten by Australia in Singapore

They put their heart and energy into it, but the French once again lost to Australia. Soon, as is often the case, and the joy of the 2016 Olympic champions at the final whistle, experienced as a liberation, demonstrated how much they had to draw on their reserves to overcome their tough opponents.

France opened the scoring with a try from Montserrat Amédée in the second minute, before they were caught three minutes later through Maddison Levi (7-7). It was with this score that the two teams came to the break, after Camille Grassineau was caught a meter from the line. Australia took the lead after the restart, with an unconverted try from Faith Nathan, but France returned to level (12-12) two minutes from time thanks to a corner try from Lou Noël Rivier, the fruit of intense defensive pressure from the Blues to win the ball back.

But a second try from Nathan, in the last minute and after a long run, allowed Australia to escape and join New Zealand in the final, who beat second-placed Fiji 33-22 against Bleues to claim third place (kick – off at 10:38 ). The French men’s team meets the USA at 9:06 a.m. in a qualifying match for 7th place.