The French rugby sevens team arrives at a crucial moment in its preparation before the Paris Olympics, with a tour of Asia. But Antoine Dupont is missing…
The French rugby sevens team continues its preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this weekend. Jérôme Daret’s men are in Singapore for the seventh stage of the World Sevens Series. A new key tournament against the best nations in the world, the penultimate before returning to France and the start of the Games. But as crucial as it is, this new stage will be done without Antoine Dupont, the French rugby star, who preferred to skip this dress rehearsal. After a promising third place in Vancouver, then a superb gold medal won with the French team during the Los Angeles tournament in March, Dupont chose to withdraw from this rugby 7s team.
The love story, however, has everything of a fairy tale for the moment: the 27-year-old scrum half, who took a break with the French XV during the 6 Nations Tournament to prepare for his Olympics with the The rugby sevens team had greatly contributed to the success of the French team in California, with some spectacular raids and decisive tries. The man who is considered by many to be the best player in the world nevertheless missed the Hong Kong tournament at the beginning of April. Tournament during which the Blues lost in the final against the New Zealanders (7-10). He is therefore not at all there for this tour in Asia.
No matter, this obviously does not prevent the Blues from performing. For their entry into the competition in Singapore, Jérôme Daret’s men easily disposed of Samoa with a 17-0 victory. Impeccable in defense, the French, who also count Spain and South Africa in their group, had They were initially blocked in their offensives, with only one try in the first half, but had to unfold in the second half. And Dupont is obviously not the only asset of this team. The two U20 world champions last summer, Andy Timo and Esteban Capilla, particularly stood out. In any case, the absence of the French star did not seem to disturb his teammates. “We are a team, a united group,” emphasized captain Paulin Riva in April. “Everyone brings their experience and their potential.”
Antoine Dupont, for his part, was caught up in other imperatives and in particular his deadlines with his club, Stade Toulousain, from mid-March. After Bordeaux-Bègles and Pau, two tough opponents in the Top 14, Dupont will play a decisive role in Toulouse’s Champions Cup campaign. Stade Toulousain, the only French club still competing in this competition, is counting on them to overcome Harlequins this Sunday (4 p.m.), during the semi-finals. A victory would bring the reds and blacks closer to a sixth European title, consolidating the club’s position as the most successful in this competition.
The Blues are currently fourth in the world rankings behind Argentina, Ireland and Fiji. Which ensures them to participate in the Madrid tournament, from May 31 to June 2, the final competition before the Olympics. Winning in Madrid, “it would be a big blow to the heads of our opponents and arriving with confidence at the Olympics,” Paulin Riva already assured recently. And this time, finally, Antoine Dupont will have joined the French 7s team for good. A minimum for a team aiming for nothing less than Olympic gold this summer.
