He will make the ‘perfect sevens player’, says Danny Care

Antoine Dupont: France captain will make the ‘perfect sevens player’, says Danny Care

 

The “perfect sevens player” will be France’s captain Antoine Dupont, according to England scrum-half Danny Care.

Dupont, 27, will miss the Six Nations in order to prepare for the Olympics in Paris next summer. Instead, he will concentrate on the World Rugby Sevens Series in 2024.

In the October XVs match, France lost to South Africa in the World Cup quarterfinals when he was captain.

“He is the best player in [sevens] if anyone can go there and do it,” Care stated on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

“He will be a joke, and he is the ultimate sevens player. He won’t let anyone touch him; he will be amazing. He’ll set up attempts and score.

“He is the best player in the world and it is something that means a lot to him and is a home Olympics so imagine how special that would be.”

The Toulouse scrum-half, who helped France win a 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam, promised to postpone his XVs career in order to make “sacrifices” in order to achieve his Olympic goal.

Rather than building towards the 2024 Six Nations, Dupont will join the sevens squad in January, prior to events in Canada and Los Angeles.

Since making his France debut in 2017, he has been in every edition of the competition, winning the best player titles in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

“He is probably going to play in another 10 Six Nations, so it is like ‘can I play in a home Olympics and win a gold medal?'” added with care.

“It is a dream for every kid who watched the Olympics. Imagine beating everyone in the world and doing it in your home country where everyone already loves you.”

Dupont plays sevens immediately following the XVs World Cup, following in the footsteps of two-time World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams, who competed for New Zealand in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Bryan Habana, a former Springboks winger, tried to compete in the 2016 Games as well, but he was not included in South Africa’s Olympic team even though he made the first training group.

Michael Hooper, the former captain of Australia, revealed last week that he has also switched to sevens.

The Paris Olympics occur from July 26 to August 11, while the Six Nations takes place from February 2 to March 6.

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