South Africa and France sweep through pool stage unbeaten to reach Youth Olympics semi-finals

South Africa and France advanced to the rugby sevens semi-finals at the Dakar 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games on Sunday, each winning all three pool-stage matches and topping their respective groups with more than 100 points scored.

South Africa topped Pool A with victories over Senegal (43-5), Canada, and Germany (34-7), with 17-year-old Dandre Brink crossing for five tries across the opening day at CID Stadium. France were equally dominant in Pool B, defeating Japan, Uganda (58-0), and Argentina to finish unbeaten and set up a potential repeat of the last two Youth Olympics gold medal matches.

Brink’s contribution was the individual highlight of day one. Against Germany in the final pool game, Jake Dave opened the scoring before Germany fought back to take the lead through scrum-half Felix Grothe. A Brink double swung momentum decisively back to South Africa, and further tries from James Sale, Dave, and Divan Meyer sealed a 34-7 win that was far more comfortable than the five-point half-time margin suggested.

France’s path through Pool B was similarly convincing, though their final group game against Argentina — who have won gold at the previous two editions of Youth Olympics sevens — provided the sternest test. Federico Kantz gave Argentina an early lead, converted by Ramon Benedit, but France levelled through Gaspard Laharrague before half-time. Nathanael Senga Kouo and Pablo Garbajosa scored in quick succession at the start of the second half, and Matt Lefeuvre added a fifth try to seal the win.

Argentina and Canada also progressed to the semi-finals. Canada survived a 17-10 thriller against Germany to advance, while Argentina’s two wins were enough to claim a last-four place despite the defeat to France. Argentina have medalled at both previous Youth Games sevens tournaments; Canada are seeking their first medal at this stage of the competition.

South Africa face Argentina in the first men’s semi-final at 1:42 pm local time on Monday, with France taking on Canada at 2:02 pm. The bronze medal match follows at approximately 4:30 pm, with the gold medal final closing out day two.