Sportingly, Antoine Dupont succeeds in everything he touches. Latest recognition: he was named best sevens Rugby player on Sunday during the 2024 World Rugby Awards.
The Toulouse player, who took up the discipline this year with a view to the Paris 2024 Games, was decisive during the Olympic tournament, notably scoring two tries in the final won against Fiji. Above all, he became the first male player to win the title of best player at XV and VII, having already been distinguished in 2021 for his performances with Stade Toulouse and the XV of France.
Only a few tournaments to reach the top
Antoine Dupont certainly didn't play a lot of sevens, barely four tournaments out of nine over the whole year, but those who doubted his adaptation quickly backed away. After a first tournament where he was content with the end of matches in Vancouver in February, he continued by showing great abilities in Los Angeles, where the French men's team won their first tournament on the world circuit since 2005.
His speed, his intelligence of the game and his devastating rackets then lit up the Madrid tournament, where the Blues won the world circuit after a decisive 60-meter try from Dupont in the quarter-final.
Like all of his partners, he initially seemed taken by the stakes at the start of the Olympic tournament. But Antoine Dupont was able to help swing the matches to the French side. And the Olympic tournament and the first French gold medal at the Paris Olympics further increased its popularity in France and around the world and chased away the disillusionment of the 2023 World Cup.
A Championship-European Cup double
His stints at VII, with a schedule arranged thanks to an agreement between the federation and his club Toulouse, did not prevent him from winning a Championship-European Cup double, where he shone each time he played. On the other hand, he did not participate in the 2024 Six Nations Tournament, where his absence was felt in the game produced, even if the Blues finished second behind Ireland.
Back with the XV of France for the November tour Dupont did not score a try, but his simple presence mechanically offered more space to his partners and contributed to the Blues' three successes.
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At the World Rugby Awards 2024, South African third row Pieter-Steph du Toit, a major player in the Boks' success in the Rugby Championship, won the trophy for best XV player for the second time after 2019. France also won three other distinctions: that of best coach for Jérôme Daret, the coach of the Blues at the Paris Games, as well as the tests of the year at XV scored by the winger Marine Ménager and scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec. English full-back Ellie Kildunne was crowned best player in XV.
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