He had not participated in a rugby match since the final of the Olympic Games on July 27. Regarding the match, final adjustments in the warm-up and overheated atmospheres of the matches. The scrum half returns with Stade Toulouse against Clermont, during the sixth day of the French championship, on Saturday, October 12, at 9 p.m. But he will have to wait a little longer before taking to the field, as he will start the game on the substitutes’ bench.
He was probably looking forward to this return to the present as much as the red and black fans, who have just seen their team lose twice in a row. With its star, the Toulouse team achieved a very rare double last season: winning the European Cup and the Top 14. A feast that the ogre Dupont enhanced with an Olympic title. Now it remains to be seen with what enthusiasm he will return to the competition.
“Don’t worry, when you win you just want to come back. Especially him, he is programmed for that”reassures Cyril Baille. The prop has known Antoine Dupont since he was little and continues to play with him in the Stade Toulouse and France XV shirts. “He has always had that thing of wanting more. I call him “the Martian” for fun, but I think he really comes from another planet. »
During his absence from the field, “the Martian” changed universes. The oval ball was reserved for a well-deserved vacation, in the middle of which he received the Legion of Honor from the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, for his Olympic work. Forever linked to Paris after this golden summer, he took advantage of another visit to the capital to regain the titles of “best player in the Top 14” and “best French international” before leaving again, heading, this time, to the UNITED STATES. . The opportunity to meet stars Lebron James and Lionel Messi, and to try American football for a few days with the Los Angeles Chargers.
The notoriety trap
After the drama of his facial injury during the 2023 World Cup, Antoine Dupont was able to realize, once again, that he has become a personality that goes beyond the framework of rugby, the team sport par excellence of which few Heads usually leave the field. fray. “He knows that he has the privilege of having access to all this, but he also has the legitimacyHe, Judge Cyril Baille. It is gratifying for him and has positive repercussions for all of rugby, by giving us visibility. »
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