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With the French 1st team on duty at the London Sevens over the weekend, reaching the Cup Quarter-Finals, their second string from the Top 14 Pro D2 took the major honours in the second stage of the FIRA European Sevens in Athens at the weekend.

France were simply too strong and conceded just five tries en route to the title, three of them in the pool stages as they overcame Bulgaria 70-0, Serbia 47-5, Romania 31-10 and Monaco 68-0 to top Pool B.

In the semi finals France met Cyprus, who finished second to Spain in Pool A, and ran out 29-0 winners. Spain will play at this weekend’s IRB Sevens World Series final leg in Edinburgh, but lost a tight game with Romania 5-0 in the other semi final.

France, coached by Christophe Rouchaleou, emerged victorious in the final by an almost identical score line to their pool meeting with Romania – 33-10. Spain recovered from their semi final defeat to beat Cyprus 22-5 and claim third place.

The Plate semi finals were both tight affairs with Serbia overcoming hosts Greece 29-21 and Monaco edging Bosnia & Herzegovina 21-19. Serbia went on to win the Plate with a comfortable 26-0 victory over Monaco, while Bosnia & Herzegovina finished seventh after beating Greece 22-17.

The other match on day two saw Bulgaria beat Luxembourg 27-0 in the Bowl final.

FIRA European Sevens circuit

The six preliminary rounds of the FIRA European Sevens are played over five weekends in six cities throughout the continent. Countries play in at least two events and those with the most qualifying points go on to play in the final in Hanover in mid-July.

Event 1: 16-17 May – Sopot (Poland) – winners Portugal
Event 2: 23-24 May – Athens (Greece) – winners France
Event 3: 20-31 May – Split (Croatia)
Event 4: 6-7 June – Odessa (Ukraine)
Event 5: 6-7 June – Ostrava (Czech Republic)
Event 6: 20-21 June – Moscow (Russia)
Final: 11-12 July – Hanover (Germany)