PARIS: France rugby captain Antoine Dupont defied critics to miss the Six Nations tournament and focus on making the Olympic Sevens team. The presence of the mini-man mountain has thrown in a delicious curveball to a tournament Dupont likened to sport’s Holy Grail.

Dupont has established himself as one of the best players rugby union has ever seen and his presence at a home Olympics is a massive coup not just for the national team, but also the organizers. His gamble of missing the Six Nations helped France to two wins on the World Rugby Sevens Series, including victory in the Madrid finals - a first in 19 years.

In between, he skippered his club Toulouse to Top 14 and Champions Cup glory in the 15-a-side code. “For any sports fan, the Olympics are still mythical, the Holy Grail of sport. Hosting this event in France will be an incredible celebration and to be in with a chance of winning an Olympic medal is a highly motivating challenge,” Dupont said.

His absence from last season’s Six Nations did not sit right with many France fans, still in shock at the team’s quarter-final exit from the Rugby World Cup on French soil. But for all the criticism, his absence, and Olympic presence, has been a long time coming.

“Antoine’s idea of playing in the Olympics has been in the works for two years,” France coach Fabien Galthie said in defence of the 2021 World Player of the Year. Rugby Sevens is often seen as 15-a-side rugby’s poor cousin, but Dupont denied that was the case.

“It’s just as enjoyable and when you see how difficult it is to play these matches, these tournaments with the physical wear and tear of the third day, the emotions are heightened, too,” he said. “Sharing that with a smaller squad is also enjoyable. There are no cliques, everyone shares the emotions together and these are very strong moments.” Dupont admitted that his involvement in the sevens team “gave confidence to everybody”.

Best player in world

France Sevens captain Paulin Riva admitted Dupont had offered an extra dimension to the team after their championship-winning final over Argentina in Madrid. “Antoine is the best player in the world, we think! When he’s on the pitch we have a lot of confidence,” Riva said.

Dupont, standing 1.74m tall (5ft 9in) and weighing in at 85kg (187lb), was crowned men’s Rookie of the Year after the final. “We already had the goal of winning, but to do so and to show that we’re capable of doing it twice by beating the best teams on the circuit, that shows we’re capable of victory,” Dupont said.

The Olympics, on home soil at the Stade de France, Dupont added, “will be a huge tournament, but we’ll try to get that trophy in July”. France sevens coach Jerome Daret said he had had no doubts about Dupont’s successful crossover.

“When you see the statistics from Antoine Dupont at last year’s World Cup, he is the player who made the most offloads, with a total of 10,” Daret said. “He also has the ability to change pace and break that we are looking for. He has a great defence and can catch players 50 centimetres from the line, which is something we expect a lot in rugby sevens.” 

Dupont himself said his transition was merely a question of experience. “Even if I have little experience in rugby sevens, I have experienced complicated 15-a-side matches, very close ends of matches where we really had to come back to score or hold it. These moments are very useful for not panicking, respecting our principles, our group and individual playing patterns,” he said.

World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin said the inclusion of Dupont in the Olympics was essential to keep growing the sport. “The Dupont impact is incredible,” Gilpin said. “It’s provided a profile that we need to keep building.”

Dupont will make his Olympic debut in Pool C action against the United States, Uruguay on July 24. There is a third and final pool game against Fiji and a quarter-final a day later. The semi-finals and final are scheduled for July 27. — AFP