If Antoine Dupont withdraws from the rest of the World Cup, the Blues staff should call for a replacement. Baptiste Serin emerges as the ideal candidate.
Not selected in the group of 33 to compete in the World Cup, Baptiste Serin could finally be part of the adventure. If Antoine Dupont withdraws from the rest of the competition, the Toulon scrum half seems in pole position to take his place in the group. At the start of the year, however, he was completely down in the hierarchy of the Blues in his position: behind Dupont, Lucu, Couilloud but also Le Garrec and Coly. Thanks to an exceptional year in 2023 at club, Serin finally joined the group of 42 Blues to prepare for the World Cup. Despite a very successful preparation, he did not manage to overthrow the hierarchy in the minds of the French staff, and was therefore not selected in the 33 for the world championship, Lucu and Couilloud taking the two places behind Dupont.
However, Baptiste Serin could be much more than a last resort solution. Gifted with fantastic footwork, capable of igniting encounters and tactically intelligent, he now looks like a real candidate for the starting scrum-half position. While Maxime Lucu seems to be seen by the staff as a pure “finisher” coming into play at the end of the match, Couilloud does not necessarily have the makings and experience of a starting 9 in the France team. Baptiste Serin is the one who possesses the qualities closest to Antoine Dupont, with the profile of a dynamiter and an ultra mobile scrum half. He also has the advantage of being able to play flyhalf, and of being an excellent scorer. The RCT player could therefore see his destiny change, and go from being absent from the World Cup to starting with the XV of France.
