Antoine Dupont eyes HSBC SVNS glory in Madrid after guiding Toulouse to Champions Cup triumph over Leinster
- French scrum half will return to World Rugby Sevens Series finale next weekend after already helping team win in Los Angeles
- Dupont will be part of the French squad fighting to win gold at the Paris Olympics this summer
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Antoine Dupont will switch back to sevens rugby next weekend, Toulouse coach Ugo Mola said, after the scrum half’s man-of-the-match performance in guiding his club to Champions Cup victory on Saturday.
Dupont, France’s regular 15-a-side captain, wants to win gold with his country in the Paris Olympics.
He made his sevens debut for the France in Vancouver in February, part of the World Rugby Sevens Series that concludes next weekend with the finals in Madrid.
“Antoine is leaving for Madrid on Monday. We’ll be celebrating our European title while he goes and eats some tapas,” said Mola, after Toulouse beat Leinster 31-22 in extra time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In the series event in Los Angeles in March, Dupont helped France to their first victory on the sevens circuit since 2005.
Dupont has been freed to play in Madrid from May 31 to June 2, because, with two rounds of the regular season to play, Toulouse are assured of finishing in top two in the league and have locked up a bye to the semi-finals.
Already considered one of the best players of all time, Dupont praised his side’s mental strength for inspiring a mammoth defensive effort in a dramatic extra-time 31-22 win over Leinster.
Toulouse had averaged 6.6 tries and more than 44 points per game in the competition this season on their way to Saturday’s showpiece match at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But it was defence that was the foundation of their record-extending sixth Champions Cup final triumph.
Toulouse made 242 tackles to their opponents’ 137 across two gruelling hours of rugby, with Leinster completing an unwanted hat-trick of defeats after losing both the 2022 and 2023 Champions Cup finals to another French club, La Rochelle.
Neither Toulouse nor Leinster managed a try in a regulation 80 minutes that ended level at 15-15, following five penalties apiece.
Toulouse wing Matthis Lebel scored the first try of the match early in extra time before teammate Richie Arnold was sent off for a dangerous clear-out at a ruck.
Leinster hit back with a try from Ireland back-row Josh van der Flier, but Toulouse replacement Thomas Ramos’ two penalties in the second half of extra time proved decisive.
“The feeling is a great joy,” Dupont said. “There are feelings and emotions that are hard to put into words. We’ve worked so hard … Extra time is crunch time, money time, and you shouldn’t ask questions, just get your head down and do what you need to do.
Toulouse now have a chance at completing a European and domestic double this season by retaining France’s Top 14 title.
But Mola, who praised his side for making “precious turnovers close to our line” said talk of the double was “presumptuous”.
“We need to make the semi-finals before we talk about the double,” he added.
