France – Japan. “Once again, this man takes care of everything!” : the foreign press focuses on Dupont's return

The programming of the Autumn Nation Series now makes it possible to follow, in the same weekend, all the major matches, given that they follow one another. Thus, the foreign press was able to follow the first outing of the season for the Blues, against Japan. Certainly, it wasn't the most interesting match of the day and it probably won't go down in history. But the English-speaking media perceived it as the great return to the international level (at XV) of Antoine Dupont. “Antoine Dupont celebrated his return as captain and his ability to score was not even necessary, as France easily beat Japan 52-12, with 8 triessummarizes the British daily The Telegraph. He returned to XV in the stadium where he led France to the gold medal to VII during the Paris Games. But it's also where he experienced the heartbreak of the painful elimination of an unfortunate point against South Africa in the quarterfinals of the World Cup a year ago.

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France – Japan. Antoine Dupont (scrum half and captain of the French XV): “The copy is more than positive”

TNT Sports, broadcaster of this autumn tour and the Premiership across the Channel, was not mistaken highlighting Dupont's breakthrough following the scrum in the 54th minute. Paul Boudehent scored a few minutes later. “Once again, this man takes care of everything for France! The Blues play very dominant rugby in Paris.”

“Class” when playing wisely behind his back twice and winning possession to the detriment of Tomoki Osada, “action with finesse” to launch Jean-Baptiste Gros on trial: the captain of the Blues did not score (his try was not validated on video) but it is just like, for the42, Irish specialist online media.

“After spending the rest of 2024 focusing on the 7s, the former World Rugby Player of the Year played 66 minutes and showed great ability from start to finish”considers the BBC in its report.