After winning their first group match on Friday against Canada (24-7), the French dominated Great Britain (19-12) on Saturday morning then the United States in the evening in the quarter-finals (14-0). Iconic captain of the XV of France, Antoine Dupont joined the 7 to compete in the Paris Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11). After the tournament in Vancouver (Canada) last week, where the Blues finished third, he continued his apprenticeship in Los Angeles.
Dupont is now a starter in major matches, and had a magnificent day on Saturday, showing off his explosiveness to score a try in the quarter, before managing the tempo of a game played for a long time outnumbered (two yellow cards). Against the British in the morning, he came on in the second half and delighted the public with a foot pass for a corner try from Nelson Epée, his partner from Stade Toulousain.
“It doesn’t happen much here, even in our system we do very little kicking. When it works, everyone says well done, but we must not miss it because afterwards, the counterattack can be fatal,” smiled Dupont (27 years old) in the mixed zone. “Each time I am on the field I progress (…) I continue to learn, to nourish myself, each time I am on the field I analyze by discussing with the guys, I continue to familiarize myself with this sport.”
“Antoine we try to tame him, he always surprises us,” greeted, amused, his teammate Stephen Parez. “He tries, it works, good for the team, we will always be behind him for any of his initiatives. It’s another string to our bow, plus he really knows how to do everything, he’s impressive, we’re trying to rely on that to score tries more easily than usual.”
The French meet on Sunday at 2:08 p.m. local time (11:08 p.m. Paris time) for their semi-final against Ireland. If the Dupont effect is perceptible on the pitch, it does not really infuse in the stands. Almost empty on Friday, the stands filled up painfully on Saturday as the rain fell on the Dignity Health Sports Park (south of the city), home of the Los Angeles Galaxy “soccer” club. The name Dupont means nothing to most of the supporters, but makes the eyes of the few French people present, flag in hand, shine. “Dupont’s pass, fantastic, it’s really beautiful, only him can do that. When he returned it changed the appearance of the match,” Pierre Duris, 58, told AFP.
The Blues also started their tournament perfectly with a victory on Friday against Japan (35-7) then a success on Saturday over Ireland (21-5), before losing against Australia (17-14). They will play their quarter-final on Sunday at 10:14 a.m. (7:14 p.m. Paris time) against Canada.