Antoine Dupont managed to chase away the demons that surrounded his last performances on the pitch at the Stade-Vélodrome on Friday June 28, in a Toulouse demonstration against Union Bordeaux-Bègles (35-3), in the Top 14 final.
Read also | Live, Toulouse – Bordeaux-Bègles: Antoine Dupont’s Rouge et Noir crush UBB in the Top 14 final, and win their twenty-third title
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Before kick-off, the Stade Toulousain scrum-half surely had in mind the first red card of his career, obtained in the jersey of the XV of France in Marseille, during a test match against South Africa, in 2022. But above all his injury to the cheekbone, suffered against Namibia, during the 2023 World Cup. The one who at 27 years old, has never lost a final, showed off his talent by scoring twice in the first half (6e23e), well accompanied by hooker Peato Mauvaka (20e). Enough to mark the gap against UBB, already more than exceeded at the break (22-3).
During a more contested second period, the Unionists, who had reached the Top 14 final for the first time in their young history, once again suffered the wrath of Toulouse, to the point of suffering the biggest defeat in the history of a final. The Red and Blacks, in addition to lifting their twenty-third Brennus Shield, also achieved their third European Cup and championship double (after 1996, 2021, and therefore 2024).
What you must remember
- The cador. Antoine Dupont, again and again.
After having imposed himself with the Blues of rugby sevens, and having gleaned a new European Cup, the “Minister of the Interior” has once again delivered a full performance. Beyond his double, the Stade Toulousain scrum-half recited his rugby against the XV Girondins, and disconcerted his opponents, as usual.
5-0, 6e : Thibaud Flament rushes with ball in hand into a gap, and shifts for Antoine Dupont, who comes to flatten in the Gironde part.
7-3, 10e : Maxime Lucu converts his penalty, and offers the first and last points for UBB.
22-3, 25e : Thomas Ramos transforms the second try scored by Antoine Dupont, without trembling against the poles.
59-3, 80e + 3 : Ange Capuozzo made an impressive comeback to score the ninth try for the Red and Blacks, and hammered home a final nail on the Union, who were overwhelmed at the end of the match.
Or the number of points that separated the two clubs at the final whistle. A historic and unprecedented gap, which betrays the Unionists’ lack of experience at this level of the competition.
- The turning point of the match. The yellow cardboard of Tevita Tatafu.
The Japanese international temporarily abandoned his teammates in the 6th minutee minute of play, by being guilty of an involuntary shoulder blow to the jaw of Santiago Chocobares. Disoriented, the UBB which had until then been more or less afloat, was almost no longer able to attack in the game, except for the penalty succeeded by Maxime Lucu.
- The phrase. Maxime Lucu, at the Canal+ microphone during the break: “We are doing everything wrong. If we continue like this, we’ll get 40.” A lucid, and almost premonitory, declaration pronounced by the Girondin captain.
- Nutrisport. B.
If there is no match, there is no entertainment? Certainly, but this Toulouse team showed such domination, in a historic final, that the boredom caused by the lack of competition is quickly swept away by the art of the show.
