I was Rugby World Cup poster boy but I’m skipping Six Nations to play different game ahead of Olympics
Antoine Dupont has started his quest for Olympic gold with France this summer in Paris.
And the Rugby Union sensation has ditched the Six Nations to play sevens after making his debut for France at the Vancouver leg of the SVNS series over the weekend.
The Paris Summer Olympics will only be hosting men’s and women’s rugby sevens.
This means that French star boy Dupont had to make a tactical decision to skip the Guinness Six Nations to focus on playing sevens for the chance to win an Olympic medal.
And to no one’s surprise, the 2023 World Cup poster boy knows exactly how to play.
Dupont came off the bench and fired his country into the last four with a late try on Saturday in a quarter-final win over Ireland.
But the France 15-a-side captain was unable to inspire his nation to sevens silverware as New Zealand edged them out in the semi-finals of the HSBC SVNS event in Vancouver.
New Zealand took control of the semi-final after early tries from Cody Vai and Akuila Rokolisoa gave them a 14-5 interval advantage.
Jordan Sepho’s try helped France cut the lead to 14-12, but New Zealand stretched away again before consolation scores from Rayan Rebbadj and Joseph Jefferson.
New Zealand beat France 28-26 in a high-quality sevens contest.
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The 2021 men’s World Player of the Year competed in his first sevens tournament and settled for a third-place play-off in Canada.
Dupont could not miss the chance of winning gold in front of a home crowd this summer as the Toulouse captain is on the hunt to add another piece of silverware to his glittering trophy cabinet.
He has won five major trophies in his career, including three Top 14 titles, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the Six Nations Championship.
And it looks like he will not be missing out on a Six Nations title this year as France was stunned on Sunday in a 13-13 Six Nations draw against Italy in Lille.