Under the changing weather at the national center of the French Rugby Federation, in Essonne, Antoine Dupont got his bearings with rugby sevens and with the 16 other players called by coach Jérôme Daret for this preparation course.
“We are very happy to welcome Antoine. It’s very positive for the group,” declared the captain of the French 7s team Paulin Riva after the session.
Arriving Tuesday evening in Marcoussis, the captain of the XV of France will only stay on Wednesday with the other septists, who will continue this first training course of the year until Friday.
After a series of burpees performed to the cheers of his teammates, an obligatory ritual for any new player in the France group, the scrum half from Stade Toulouse took part in the various exercises of the session, multiplying discussions with his partners and with the selector.
“He has just arrived and doesn’t particularly know Sevens rugby, so he was very attentive,” observed the player from Agen and the French Sevens team Jefferson Lee Joseph.
“I think we need to reassure everyone who enters the group, to be there to answer all questions because it is a discipline that requires a lot of precision and which has its specificities,” added Paulin Riva.
Very diligent with ball in hand, Antoine Dupont notably practiced return kicks, as well as positioning in rucks, specific to rugby 7s, always under the watchful eye of his partners.
“I already found him very comfortable,” commented Jérôme Daret after training. “He’s a player who comes to expose himself, he leaves his comfort zone and wants to fight.”
If the former Dax scrum half has “no concerns” about Antoine Dupont’s adaptation to his team’s tactics, the challenge will be “to get him to bear the workload and to tend towards what the demands of rugby 7s are.
“There are differences compared to rugby union on the physical dimension. Antoine has all the skills to be able to exist in this game, in terms of speed, but we must gradually bring him to be able to support this load,” he explained.
For this, the staff of the French 7s team will work in collaboration with the Stade Toulouse and the 27-year-old scrum half will come and train with the France group “about once a month” until last tournament of the world circuit season scheduled for Madrid (May 31 – June 2), in which the French international will participate.
In addition to training sessions, Dupont, who will skip the Six Nations Tournament, will play two other stages of the world rugby sevens circuit in Vancouver (February 23-25) and Los Angeles (March 2-3 ).
“Antoine Dupont is an excellent player in terms of his dueling qualities and also his speed. Now it’s up to us to get the most out of him, to involve him in our game project and to make the French team shine, which dreams, like its new recruit, of winning Olympic gold this summer at the Stadium. of France.
