Back after a year of absence, the captain of the XV of France is now evolving in a dimension where only he can venture. And the Blues are getting in tune.
And he, the ghost, great miracle worker of French rugby, what does he think of this new momentum having escorted the autumn furrow of the French team? “It’s a very positive result, obviously, with three victories against high-quality opponents declared Antoine Dupont without blinking more than an hour and a half after the fight against Argentina (37-23 victory). But what is even more positive is our room for improvement. We win the All Blacks by a single point (30-29) but I think that with a little more rigor, the score could have been wider.
We will have things to work on to arrive ready for the Tournament, but it is more than positive.”
More perfectionist than ever
The captain's blessing today sounds like extreme unction. More than a year after his “goodbye” to the XV of France just to go for Olympic gold with the cousins of the 7th, “Toto” the Toulousain continues his victorious march wherever he walks the lawns. As evidence, the Blues scrum-half showed throughout the Tour a superior maturity, an aura in his firmament, an absolute incarnation of the leader who was so missed during his absence. This was blinded during last year's VI Nations Tournament, finishing in second place in the standings after a home defeat (17-38) against Ireland and an inglorious draw (13-13). ) against Italy. Months of fueling up as usual before reaching the heights again. Thanks, in particular, to the pragmatism of the big teams called for by the staff and players. Dupont is demanding, even more perfectionist than before: “Regarding our offensive game, we can have more consistency. We were able to be pragmatic, score with very little playing time, but everything we work on during the week, we have difficulty finding it at the weekend. It's a bit of a shame that with our qualities and our weapons we don't have more cartridges to use.” Because the attack, it is well known, starts from behind:
“Our defense was also positive, we defended a lot over the three matches. We need to be able to have more attacking balls, so it's up to us to be better in many details, our game in the ground, our kicking game.”
Another dimension
No matter the imperfections, because at the start of the international season for the Blues, the momentum seems contagious, in the same way that Antoine Dupont radiates around him a confidence bordering at times on a feeling of invulnerability, without however having been great or at his best, which he agrees with. Because in the end, the pleasure of reunion pushed the team to get in tune with a boss who was more collective than ever. “We were all happy to see each other again. Obviously, a year ago, I was impatient to replay these matches. I also have a lot of things to improve on in the next matches. But there were three victories, so it's very positive, in the result but also in the state of mind, which was remarkable A united team which does not give up, and which, even after being behind by the score or having lost. “breaker”, has a real desire not to break up and that's very foundational for the future.”
If it's Dupont who says it.
Now evolving in a stratospheric dimension where he has no equal, the captain of the Blues is however not nominated for the title of best player in the world at XV of the year 2024. No problem! He is just French and European Champion in the Toulouse jersey, Olympic Champion with the French 7s team and Autumn Champion with the Blues. The public was not mistaken, welcoming the return of the prodigy into communion, just to tighten the French ranks after a dramatic summer and before a spring that we hope will be ecstatic.
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