Antoine Dupont will finally settle scores with the southern hemisphere. For the first time since 2017 and a heavy defeat for the French XV (35-12) at Ellis Park Stadium, the scrum-half returns to South Africa to face the Sharks in the Champions Cup with Stade Toulousain, this SATURDAY. And he is eagerly awaited.
« Dupont overrated »
Six days before kick-off, 70% of places (around 40,000) were already sold for this clash between the winners of the last two “European” cups. “The Sharks are pushing to fill it, it shows that this match is quite popular,” enthuses Jared Wright, South African journalist at Planet Rugby. “For the moment, the occupancy rate of the stadiums in South Africa for the Champions Cup matches is not crazy,” recalls the former Toulousain and ex-French international Vincent Clerc. This is the opportunity to start this competition there so that it makes sense. » What could be better for that than to see the public enemy Antoine Dupont rub shoulders with the darling Grant Williams, Toto but even better if we stick to Twitter rugby sud-af, very active on the keywords “Dupont overrated.
Difficult to find a starting point for the southern bitterness towards the French number 9, at most we know that it grows as the Toulouse player’s performances are praised by those in the know, encouraging Springbok supporters to tone them down, like after Antoine Dupont’s hat-trick in ten minutes against Clermont for his post-2024 Olympic return or after his title of player of the year, rugby 7s category.
South Africa in need of individual recognition
The South Africans are firmly convinced that their players, although double reigning world champions, are underrated (unlike Dupont), even though Pieter-Steph du Toit has twice lifted the trophy for player of the year (2019 and 2024). “It goes back to 1995, when New Zealand attributed the defeat to food poisoning, and maybe more,” observes Jared Wright.
The trauma therefore goes far beyond primary anti-Dupontism and often borders on caricature, as if all the honors were theirs by right. Many of them complained about the title of coach of the year awarded to Jérôme Daret, coach of the French Olympic champion team, or attacked the American player Ilona Maher, who was accused of being too popular.
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“They’re just upset that we talk a lot less about their players when I think it’s rather flattering for them to consider that they have 23 guys who are so strong and united that they don’t need to have a superstar or players who are way above the rest,” analyzes the founder of the satirical account Boucherie Ovalie. South Africa a victim of its omnipotence? Wright buys into the theory: “A lot of times when you look at the stats after the game, there isn’t a player that really stands out in one category. »
But there is something else. As powerful as he is for his size, the Toulouse native embodies through his virtuosity the antithesis of South African brute force, the secret of their hegemony but also of their unpopularity according to the journalist. “The Springboks are seen as big bullies who don’t play entertaining rugby, and that’s been going on for years,” he notes. These are things that can explain the victimizing posture of certain supporters. »
“Individually, Antoine has something more,” smiles Vincent Clerc. And I understand that it is frustrating, they are still a very proud people, who have winning in them and have proven it with this world champion title. Now, it’s a somewhat healthy competition to say to ourselves, ”aren’t we capable of showing that we have the best players in the world too?” It’s also the little game , but it doesn’t surprise me that they are upset. »
What should Dupont do to silence his detractors?
Winning in the southern hemisphere seems to be a prerequisite insofar as it is the main argument of the “antis”, who are redoubled in rage and inventing a world where Antoine Dupont has avoided them since the announcement of a XV of France reworked for the New Zealand tour in the summer of 2025. In the South African imagination but also in NZ, it is in the South that the best rugby is played and where it is necessary to make its evidence, not in the farmer’s league from the north. However, the results of the South African franchises in the European Cup are enough to bring them back to humility. “For the moment, apart from the Sharks, who can compete a little, we see that their other teams are not yet at the level,” notes Vincent Clerc. They are perhaps not aware of the level of the Europeans and the importance of these competitions, particularly in the eyes of the Celtic teams who put all their energy into the Champions Cup. »
South African fans will still be able to cling to the World Cup record as much as they want, there is a certain pleasure in seeing Eben Etzebeth himself singing the praises of the northern hemisphere while talking about the Champions Cup with stars in the eyes, at the microphone of the podcast Times“The Ruck.” “It’s by far the biggest competition [de clubs] in the world. Over the years, South African rugby and supporters will realize the magnitude and value of this title. If you win, you have a star on the jersey, it’s something huge. »
Antoine Dupont won it twice, in 2021 and 2024, but it is never enough to put out the fire of bad faith, especially when it has the luxury of being able to draw its strength from too light a record of the Goat in the World Cup, the South African domain par excellence. Having a big game with the Sharks won’t be enough to cut the noise but would be a way for Dupont to give himself a little respite. For the rest, the path to recognition in the South will wait until 2027. Until then, the people of Toulouse and the Blues will have to deal with South African taunts.
