By Rohith Nair and Vincent Daheron
PARIS (Reuters) – The Paris Olympics began in earnest on Wednesday when the first batch of pool games in rugby sevens kicked off in front of a noisy crowd at the iconic Stade de France where hosts France were held to a draw by the United States.
Although the Olympics opening ceremony is not until Friday, soccer and rugby sevens preliminary rounds got underway for logistical reasons in Paris and around the country.
The shorter but speedier rugby format allows teams to play more than one match a day and the medals in the men’s and women’s tournaments will be decided before the 81,000-capacity stadium hosts the athletics events from Aug. 1.
Scores of fans lined up outside the sun-kissed arena for the rugby sevens, the majority in blue to support the host nation.
“It’s been excitement, emotions, impatience … I’ve been looking forward to the start,” said 44-year-old France fan Matthieu.
“We’re at the heart of the biggest event that we’ve been waiting a long time to see.”
Another France fan, Pauline from Toulouse, arrived with three kids in tow and there was no question who they were most keen to watch when they screamed, “Antoine Dupont!”.
The 27-year-old is a former world player of the year in the fifteen-man format and made the switch to Sevens after last year’s Rugby World Cup, immediately elevating France to title contenders with his versatility.
LOUDEST CHEER
The loudest cheer of the day was reserved for when Dupont, who has mostly come on as an impact replacement, was announced in the starting lineup in the Pool C opener against the United States.
The crowd were treated to a thriller of a match with American Marcus Tupuola scoring a late try to lock up the scores at 12-12. Madison Hughes missed the conversion leaving the two teams to share the spoils.
“It was a huge atmosphere,” Dupont said. “It’s not common for us to play in this kind of stadium, we have to embrace this atmosphere, to embrace this pressure, to play better in the next game.”
Fiji are seeking a hat-trick of golds to underline their dominance in their national sport and they later went top of Pool C with a thumping 40-12 victory over Uruguay, who were no match for the speed and power of the Pacific islanders.
Earlier, Australia kicked off their Pool B campaign with a 21-14 win over Samoa fired by two tries from veteran flyer Henry Hutchison.
Argentina were roundly booed by the crowd when they took to the pitch for their Pool B match against Kenya in what was perhaps a spillover from the 2022 soccer World Cup final between France and the South Americans.
Such was their disdain for the men in powder blue-and-white, the crowd jeered even when Argentina scored their five tries while loudly cheering on every Kenya move.
Argentina were unperturbed as they toyed with the African side and eased to a 31-12 victory.
Ireland later edged South Africa 10-5 in a blockbuster clash, while New Zealand, silver medallists in Tokyo three years ago, thrashed Japan 40-12 in the other Pool A clash.
The pool games continue in the evening session.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair and Vincent Daheron in Paris; editing by Nick Mulvenney)
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