France confirm when Antoine Dupont will make his sevens debut

Jared Wright 16 Feb 2024 4:24 PM

Antoine Dupont of France before the Rugby World Cup Quarter-final 4 match between France and South Africa at Stade de France on October 15, 2023 in Paris, France.

Antoine Dupont is set to make his France sevens debut after making himself unavailable to Les Bleus for the 2024 Six Nations.

After skippering France during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Dupont is chasing his Olympic Games dream in 2024 and is making the first steps towards that next weekend.

Dupont to debut in Vancouver

The 27-year-old has been included in Jerome Daret’s 14-man squad for the Vancouver SVNS, which will be hosted from February 23 to 26 (BST).

Dupont has been training with the Sevens squad over the past fortnight after making his final appearance for his Top 14 club, Toulouse, in their 46-26 victory over Bayonne, where he scored a try and assisted three.

France have been drawn in Pool B for the Vancouver SVNS alongside Australia, USA and Samoa.

The 2021 World Rugby Men’s 15 Player of the Year will likely make his debut for the sevens team in their opening game against the USA, followed by their matches against Samoa and Australia, respectively.

France head into the Vancouver SVNS ranked seventh overall in the standings (out of 12 teams) behind Argentina, Fiji, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Toulouse coach Clement Poitrenaud insists that the club ‘”know how to live without” Dupont ahead of their clash with Oyonnax this weekend.

“He was obviously an undeniable asset in these first two matches,” the ex-France outside back said.

“We saw the influence he was able to have, but we are also used to playing without Antoine during these periods. It starts today.

“I want to say that it’s not a problem because Baptiste Germain and Paul Graou are there to replace him, or even Arthur Retière.

“We will obviously miss him but, at the same time, we have to know how to live without Antoine.”

Meanwhile, Fabien Galthie has been forced into another change of captaincy following the injury to Dupont’s stand-in as skipper, Gregory Alldritt.

Galthie has turned to Charles Ollivon, who captained France prior to Dupont’s appointment, while 19-year-old Bordeaux number eight Marko Gazzotti has been called into the squad.

The men’s XV team enjoy a fallow week this weekend but return to action next weekend when they host Italy in Lille.

France Sevens squad for Vancouver

France: Esteban Capilla, Antoine Dupont, Nelson Epee, Theo Forner, Aaron Garndidier Nkanang, William Iraguha, Jefferson Lee Joseph, Stephen Parez-Edo Martin, Varian Pasquet, Rayan Rebbadj, Paulin Riva (c), Jordan Sepho, Andy Timo, Antoine Zeghdar