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Antoine Dupont assigns Euro masterclass to one skill learned in sevens
By Josh Raisey
Everyone knew Antoine Dupont would be influential in the Investec Champions Cup final, but few would have expected that his jackaling would be the deciding factor in Toulouse's 31-22 win over Leinster at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Toulouse captain came away from the match with four turnovers to his name, some of which were in the most important areas of the field at the most important times.
Those are breakdown stats by the scrum-half that any flanker would be proud of, as he scooped the player of the match award.
Dupont already had nine turnovers in the competition going into the match, putting him in the top five, but he really did exemplify what an asset he is at the breakdown.
This is a skill that the Frenchman has put down to his time playing sevens this year. Dupont is set to return to the HSBC SVNS circuit this week after a barnstorming start to his career in the seven-player format, and his decision is increasingly looking like it is benefitting everyone involved.
As great as he has been for sevens thus far, the game has clearly given him a lot as well.
"It's not something that I really targeted," he said after the match when talking about his jackaling. "But playing in sevens, the rucks are really important. It's an asset that I've gained from the sevens."
These were the contributions that Dupont's coach Ugo Mola believes ultimately decided the match. Dupont was not alone in producing a jackaling masterclass, with flanker Jack Willis chipping in with a few of his own in what was a titanic defensive display from the Englishman.
Toulouse almost doubled Leinster's turnover count in their extraordinary defensive effort, which Mola said "made the difference".
"They were really precious turnovers near our line," he said when looking back on Dupont's interventions.
"In this defensive aspect, we wanted to be really intense.
Another surprise jackaler was fly-half Romain Ntamack, who proved to be a dab hand at the dark arts himself, particularly in the first 40.
In a game where he said Toulouse "didn't manage to use the ball properly" they needed to put their bodies on the line against wave after wave of Leinster attack.
"We managed to catch them, jackal balls that were really important for us," the fly-half said when looking back on Toulouse's scramble defence.
"I cannot remember the team or myself putting in such a defensive performance, we showed a lot of solidarity."
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Latest Comments
Xavier Numia is injured and unavailable for selection. Surely the author, a journalist, knows this? Or perhaps it's a deliberate attempt to bait readers for engagement? As for Hotham — did anyone think he was going to be selected ahead of Christie, Perenara, Ratima or even Fakatava? There's still RC and EOYT squads to come. Like any successful organisation, continuity and stability are important — and so, the squad reflects this.
Go to commentsIreland and Leinster’s complex attacking patterns took an age to develop that involved getting everyone on board on the same page. And this worked for the kinds of players that Ireland produces. Fit, aerobic and hardworking. Nienaber comes from a different system and different kind of player. Big forwards, small very quick wings and back in between. That’s a disadvantage as Ireland doesn’t have the speed to play catch up which was clear against Toulouse. Also, it would take awhile for Leinster to switch from what they were and what they are being asked to become. Under Farrell, I think Ireland will acquit themselves well and won’t be surprised if they take one game and it must be the first one. Boks get momentum in that one and the 2nd will be a drubbing.
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