Olympic champions Fiji lost their first game in the second leg of the Dubai sevens tournament last night, going down 22-17 to France.

Just as they did last week, France struck first with a try after taking advantage of a Fiji loose pass.

Fijian forward Joseva Talacolo registered his country's first points racing away for an unconverted try from the restart.

France had most of the possession in the first half and tried to break the Fijian defense.

Fiji's defensive effort paid off when they turned the ball over at a break down before Filipe Sauturaga ran in for their second try.

The French managed to keep the ball alive for an extra minute and a half in the first spell before getting another try for a 12-10 lead.

Captain Josua Vakurunabili put Fiji back in the lead inside the first minute of the second half when he was setup by Talacolo following some incredible work by Kaminieli Rasaku.

However, the experienced French side added two successive tries for a 22-17 lead with less than two minutes to play.

The Fijians had a chance to turn the game, but they couldn't hang onto the ball.

Fiji face Spain and Argentina in their other pool games.