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Antoine Dupont's seamless return to 15s shows SVNS impact on his game
By Ian Cameron
Les Bleus’ Antoine Dupont returned to the 15-a-side game with an eye-catching performance for Toulouse against Bordeaux-Begles in the Top 14 match on Sunday.
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After a stint with France’s SVNS team, Dupont was initially named as a replacement scrum-half for the game. However, an early injury to Thomas Ramos saw Dupont stepping in as fly-half just four minutes into the match.
The highlight reel moment arrived in the 60th minute – showing that if anything – the SVNS circuit has sharpened his edge with ball in hand and in terms of his pace.
With Toulouse attacking to the left of a ruck in Bordeaux’s 22 , Dupont executed a strong hand-off before running an arcing line towards the left corner. In the face of an impending tackle, he somehow managed to offload the ball to Matthis Lebel, who finished off the try.
This particular play drew significant praise from fans and commentators, who were gushing at the French superstar’s skill level.
Antoine Dupont. Freak. pic.twitter.com/5E25o3ssiR
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) March 24, 2024
Despite his recent absence from the Six Nations due to Sevens commitments, Dupont’s performance in this Top 14 match demonstrated that the SVNS circuit is adding to his already intimidating arsenal of attacking weapons.
Well, he has his circus-qualities and could be important for France 7s. But i don't believe, he will ever reach the level of an Aaron Smith or Joost v. W.
Umm I'm not so sure about that. I mean joost was good but you can't compare players of that error with the pros of today. That comparing apples and pears.
At 23:30 Dupont is dispossessed near the half way line after taking the ball into traffic. That may be him think as a seven where going around a couple of players should allow open ground or at least an offload. 13 seconds later Penaud crosses for a brilliant try after a brilliant kick by Lucu. Bordeaux go on to win 31-28.
note* Dupont had to switch to Out Half after a Ramos injury 4 minutes in.
Indeed he had a hard time in the first period with a lot of (sometimes costly) errors. Only in the 2nd half he managed some brilliant moves alongside the rest of the team with the help of their XXL bench. In his defense, coming in right at the 3rd minute and not in its usual position didn’t help.
Anyway this was a cracking game between two teams coming to play.