Antoine Dupont, Olympic Rugby sevens champion, is among the three nominated for the title of best player of the year at sevens. He is not nominated at 15s.
Antoine Dupont (28 years old)'s seven-month stint in rugby sevens could prove a little more fruitful. The captain of the French XV is among the three nominated for the title of best rugby player along with his teammate Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang and Irishman Terry Kennedy. After the disappointment of the last XV World Cup in October 2023, Dupont decided to take on the challenge of rugby 7 to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The verdict delivered on Sunday
He had thus skipped all the gatherings of the XV of France to play several World Sevens tournaments in the company of his new partners. With the Blues of 7, he won the stage in Los Angeles in March, before that in Spain in June. Dupont also participated in winning the Top 14-Champions Cup double with Toulouse in XV. A few weeks later, the Toulouse native helped offer Olympic gold to the French 7-a-side team in a melting Stade de France.
Away from the French XV all year until the autumn test matches due to his Olympic break, Dupont had been a substitute several times during the Games, but his contribution was decisive in helping the Blues win gold Olympic this summer. Voted best player in the world at XV in 2021, he could become the first player to also win this award at VII. He is accompanied in his category by his teammate Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, author of four attempts during the Games, and the Irishman Terry Kennedy, already a winner in 2022. The names of the winners will be announced on Sunday in Monaco during the World Rugby Awards.
An essay by Le Garrec named
Antoine Dupont, crowned best player in the Top 14 and best international last September by the National Rugby League, does not appear among the nominees for the best XV players. Three South African world champions are in the running to succeed New Zealander Ardie Savea as the best player in the world: second row Eben Etzebeth, among those nominated last year and who has since become the most capped Springbok, third row wing Pieter-Steph du Toit, already a winner in 2019, and winger Cheslin Kolbe. Only one European is named, the Irishman Caelan Doris. The Clover flanker and new captain won the Six Nations, and was in the team that won a test in South Africa this summer, the Boks' only home defeat this year.
A try from the French men's XV finally counts in the selection of the best tries of the year: that of Nolann Le Garrec during the victory against England (33-31) during the Six Nations Tournament. The Racing 92 scrum-half concluded an 80m action after a ball stolen into touch.
France
Soccer
