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Why did Antoine Dupont wear number 25 in Vancouver?
By Willy Billiard
When Antoine Dupont walked onto the pitch at BC Place in Vancouver with the rest of the French team, the number 25 on his back was a real eye-catcher. The same thing happened when he came on against USA with just over three minutes remaining in the first match of the group stage.
Two explanations were given, and the first seemed logical. The world's best XV player, with 52 international caps to his name, simply inverted the two numbers to personalise his jersey, as the Sevens tradition allows.
However, the second explanation is the official one, as confirmed to RugbyPass by the staff of France 7.
A tribute to his family
Rupert Cox, commentator of the tournament on RugbyPassTV, had put forward a much more personal and profound explanation for the native of Lannemezan (Hautes-Pyrénées).
In fact, the "2" refers to the month in which his mother and brother were born (February), while the "5" refers to the month in which his father was born (May). With this number "25", Antoine Dupont wanted to pay a subtle but powerful tribute to his family.
And the tribute was more than perfect, thanks to France's two victories in the opening match of the HSBC SVNS Vancouver: 24-12 against USA and 40-7 against Samoa.
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Latest Comments
GB = England, Scotland, Wales. UK = England, Wales, Scotland, NI
Nothing to stew son.
Go to commentsTupaea is a natural 12. What is it with you kiwis and playing players out of their positions. Is that some sort of national sport? Is that on purpose? You’ve got an utility back and a winger at 12 and 13 respectivelly. You played Savea at 8 for ages, wasting the potential of one of the world’s three best players in the last 4-5 years.
ALB is equally effective at 12 and 13, so why not have him or Tupaea at 12, and Proctor at 13? God forbid you’d have two midfielders playing at their natural positions! There must be a law in New Zealand, that prohibits that. Small sample size, but Proctor walked on water in his international debut at 13.
But the kiwi selectors seem to love Rieko’s speed, so as long as the horse is fast enough, they decided they’ll teach him to climb trees anyway.
You don’t have a better 10 than BB and Mo’unga. DMac is a more instinctive attacker (almost as good as Mo’unga … almost), but doesn’t have BB’s game-controlling skills. You have and will lose games due to his aimless kicking and spur-of-the-moment inventions none of his team mates are able to read at the international pace. Works okay at Super Rugby level, doesn’t mean it’s transferable to test matches. But hey, suit yourself.
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