Now it’s concrete. Antoine Dupont, who announced in November his wish to join the French sevens rugby team in the hope of participating in the Paris Olympic Games (July 26-August 11), was officially summoned by the federation on Tuesday January 2. And from Wednesday, the Stade Toulouse scrum half will be training with his new teammates at the National Rugby Center in Marcoussis (Essonne).
Dupont, who trained on Tuesday afternoon with his club in Toulouse, will only stay one day in Marcoussis, while this first training course of the year will last until Friday for the sixteen other septists selected by the coach , Jérôme Daret.
Technical and physical specificities
Due to this new commitment, the one who has become the undisputed headliner of French rugby during the 2023 World Cup will skip the Six Nations Tournament, in February and March, in order to be able to familiarize himself with the technical and physical specificities of VII. “You have to play at least four or five tournaments to be really good in the discipline,” explained to Le Monde in November, Damien Cler, who participated in the Rio Olympics (Brazil) with the Blues in 2016.
Later in the season, the 27-year-old is scheduled to compete in two stops on the World Rugby Sevens Tour: in Vancouver, Canada, from February 23-25, and then in Los Angeles, USA, the March 2 and 3.
Until then, Antoine Dupont will continue to play with Stade Toulouse, facing Lyon on Saturday for the 12th day of the Top 14.