As usual, Antoine Dupont got it right. For his back-to-school test, the scrum half scored a 10 out of 10 this Saturday evening against Clermont. The gold medalist from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games made his return to the Top 14 and played his first XV match in four months. Its Toulouse stadium crushed the Auvergne team (48-14).
Entering in the 45th minute, Antoine Dupont needed a little over twelve minutes on the pitch to score a hat-trick. Not bad. The most beautiful of his three attempts and undoubtedly the last. Served by a sublime pass at the foot of the Italian international Ange Capuozzo after a restart from Toulouse from their own 22 m, the scrum half of the XV of France spun to flatten, taking advantage of a good bounce of the ball (58th, 39th -7).
On the video, we can clearly see that the “Minister of the Interior”, as he is nicknamed for his ability to arrive at the right time for the internal support of his teammates, makes an arm appeal to request the pass at the foot of Capuozzo. The latter had offered him another decisive pass a few minutes earlier, this time by hand, for the double try.
After the meeting, he was delighted with this successful return. As he confided to Canal +: “I really enjoyed the holidays, but every time I came to training, I wanted to get back on the field with my friends. I came back with great enthusiasm. So starting with a match like that with a lot of desire and movement, it’s nice. My triplet is anecdotal, Ange (Capuozzo) serves me perfectly twice. »
After the Games and then a stay in the United States, where he notably met Lionel Messi, NBA superstar LeBron James, or even tested American football, Antoine Dupont still has the same enthusiasm. And the same desire to do well, as Toulouse assistant coach David Mélé confided at a press conference: “We see that on his first ball, he doesn’t need 50 chances, he’s an opportunist . We know his qualities, we know what he can bring us. He’s a threat, he concentrates a lot of defenders. » And scored some nice tries.
