While the gesture of La Rochelle hooker Tolo Latu on the young Toulouse scrum half Simon Daroque (only sanctioned with a yellow card) fuels the controversy, Antoine Dupont took a position on his social networks. Where his sounding board now makes him an interlocutor who weighs…
Legacy of long and vain years of catechism, we seem to remember this story of Saint Anthony of Padua who, tired of his preaching not being sufficiently heard by men, began to talk to the fish on the beach of Rimini. This shows that, as famous as they were, certain men were not very listened to… Except that, since the 13th century, times have changed and the fact of having a well-stocked community has become a guarantee of seeing his speech spread. Our modern Saint Anthony has understood this well, since his famous press conference which followed the quarter-final of the World Cup. Thus, it was anything but trivial to see the double European champion take out his Instagram account on Saturday evening to deplore, through a sober “story” on a black background, a scathing: “Proud of the talent and courage of young people. On the other hand, the protection of the physical integrity of the players…” A double reference to the attack by La Rochelle hooker Tolu Latu on the young Toulouse scrum-half Simon Daroque (which caused the latter to injure his left shoulder), but also to the comments made a few weeks ago by his friend Greg Alldritt as referee, already Luc Ramos, on the Anoeta side (“don’t talk to us about player safety anymore”).
Like Wilko, Carter or McCaw…
New ? Not even. We remember in fact that after the move from Stade Toulouse to Exeter in mid-December, Dupont did not hesitate to openly express his dissatisfaction with the way in which delayed tackles were refereed.on which referees have for several years displayed a surprising tolerance regarding “connection” delays. Best player on the field, and now best rugby influencer, Antoine Dupont? In other times, we could have deplored this, arguing from the old principle according to which a player is above all there to play. The fact remains that given the way in which the Wilkos, Carter, McCaw and other O'Driscolls have in recent years been able to play this game to arrange things in their interest, we cannot complain too much that Dupont in turn decides to wet. Even if we can only regret, from this point of view, that he does not deign to develop and support these ideas within the framework of purely sporting interviews, his communications advisors having clearly made him understand that, like other stars like Mbappé, Riner and other Marchand, his voice should now only be heard in the mainstream media. Big bullshit…
