Final Top 14 – “It doesn’t bring back good memories”: for Antoine Dupont, Marseille is (for the moment) a land of misfortune

“We are in [2024]. All of France is occupied by [le talent d’Antoine Dupont]… All ? No ! [Le stade Vélodrome de Marseille] still resists the invader.” Does this introduction remind you of anything? That’s good. Like our Gaulish friends with the feared Julius Caesar in the iconic comic strip, not many people in our current rugby can resist the talent of Antoine Dupont. The man has accomplished so many miracles in his career that there are rare moments when destiny has not smiled on the French scrum-half.

In France, the home of the Olympians is, at present, a cursed land for the captain of Stade Toulouse. Two disputed matches, and two bad memories to forget for the brilliant “Toto” (see below). In this case, a third opportunity presents itself to him to definitively put the scars of the past behind him.

A red card against the Boks, a broken jaw against Namibia…

In the Top 14 final, Friday at 9:05 p.m., will Union Bordeaux-Bègles be its new executioner or the meeting of redemption? Given the gentleman’s pedigree, we would bet on the second possibility. But at the Vél’, Dupont often had to face fate. He also recalled it at a press conference the day before the match.

“Thanks for reminding me… It was in a different context. Yes, it doesn’t bring back good memories to see the exit I left by some time ago. But again, it was a other context. We must put all that aside, put aside possible superstition and concentrate on what is our responsibility tomorrow, on what we can still control.”

The Vélodrome and Dupont is a story that only has two chapters. The first, one evening in November 2022, saw the best French player receive the first red card of his career. And the only one to his credit since. Late for an aerial duel, he was surprised by the trajectory of the candle where Cheslin Kolbe was at the receiving end. By hitting his former teammate in the air, he saw the referee forced to exclude him from the match. Face down, he returned to the locker room, without imagining that less than a year later, he would experience an even more “dramatic” situation.

A somewhat mixed memory…

September 2023: once again with the flocked rooster jersey, Dupont meets Marseille during the 3rd match of the group stage. The Blues enjoy, Dupont impresses, but, again, the Vélodrome turns into a Vélodrama. However, fate seemed to have been averted when, before the match, coach Fabien Galthié challenged his captain on what the OM stadium reminded him of. “I have a bit of mixed memories of the last match…”, he laughed yellow, without imagining for a single moment that the dangerous tackle of the Namibian Johan Deysel was going to send him to the operating table and put his World Cup on dotted lines…

It’s a stadium that makes a lot of noise

Despite two bad experiences, let us point out that the XV of France won both matches, even without Dupont, excluded or injured. On the other hand, he has never experienced victory at the Vélodrome while being on the pitch, whether with the selection or the Stade Toulouse. And we can imagine that with the Olympic Games awaiting him – “an equally immense goal” according to him – not seeing him finish the match even if he wins the title would be experienced as an extraordinary curse. We don’t want that, of course. For him, and for French rugby.

From then on, the time is for smiles, for concentration and the person concerned wants to enjoy every moment. “There will be an incredible atmosphere, it’s a stadium that makes a lot of noise. It’s up to us to take advantage of it and get the best out of ourselves.” And for him to definitively heal scars which are certainly no longer visible, but on the other hand not so old…