Olympic gold medallist Antoine Dupont was named in France’s 15-a-side rugby union squad on Wednesday just over three months after his sparkling performances for the sevens team during their surge to glory at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Issued on: 23/10/2024 – 18:25Modified: 23/10/2024 – 18:28
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Dupont, 27, did not feature during the 2024 Six Nations tournament as he went through his paces with the sevens sides for the Olympic tournament.
The switch ended perfectly for the 2021 international player of the year.
His appearance in the second-half of the final against the defending champions Fiji ignited a comeback victory and provided France with their first gold medal of the Games.
Antoine Dupont of France kisses his gold medal as he celebrates after France won the men’s Rugby Sevens gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, France, Saturday, 27 July 2024. AP – Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
The hosts went on to collect 15 more as part of a 64-medal haul that took them to fifth in the medal table – the best performance by a European country.
It will be Dupont’s first appearance for France since their narrow defeat to South Africa in the quarter-final of the 2023 rugby union World Cup at the Stade de France.
Absences
Notable absences from Fabien Galthié’s squad are Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou.
The two 21-year-olds were accused of raping a 39-year-old woman in a hotel room after a trip to a nightclub following the first game of France’s summer tour of South America.
The pair are back in France awaiting the final decisions in the case.
In the autumn series matches – which will all be held at the Stade de France – Galthié’s men will play Japan on 9 November, New Zealand on 16 November and Argentina on 22 November.
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The Tests will also be a chance for freshly anointed French rugby federation president Florian Grill to assert his authority.
As part of his re-election campaign, the 59-year-old Frenchman promised that there would be more control of players while they are on international duties following a disastrous voyage to South America.
The trip began with the expulsion of full-back Melvyn Jaminet for posting racist comments on social media just after the opening match against Argentina on 6 July in Mendoza, western Argentina. He was subsequently suspended from rugby for eight months.
Auradou and Jegou were then named in the sex assault case.
Changes
In an attempt to refresh his teams, Galthié drafted in defenders Romain Buros and Paul Costes among eight uncapped players.
Maxime Lamothe, Mickaël Guillard, Pierre Bochaton, Marko Gazzotti and Joshua Brennan will add freshness to the forward line along with the Bayonne prop Tevita Tatafu.
The 22-year-old was born in Tonga but joined the youth set-up of his French club as a 17-year-old. He qualifies for France on residency grounds.