move from rugby union to rugby sevens, “if there is one who can do it, it’s Antoine Dupont”

The captain of the French XV will be included in the preparation group for the Olympic rugby sevens tournament, while continuing to play in the Top 14 with his club, Toulouse.

Before him, great players like New Zealander Sonny Bill Williams and Australian Quade Cooper tried it, but without great success. Moving from rugby union to rugby sevens is the challenge that Antoine Dupont will try to take on, who is joining the preparation group for the “Seven” Olympic tournament in Paris 2024. “JIn the coming months, I will join the enlarged group to be there in the best possible way. I will have to spend time with this team and find adjustments, I will not be able to play all the matches of the season with Toulouse.revealed the person concerned during Rugby Night, Monday November 20. A bet that will require adaptation as the two disciplines are different.

A workforce halved, but on a field of similar size. With more free space, Antoine Dupont will have to adapt to a rhythm very different from that of rugby union. “Rugby 7s is much more physically demandingassures Pierre-Gilles Lakafia, former player of Stade Toulouse and Castres in Top 14, and of the French rugby sevens team. Being seven against seven we are always in the action, whether offensively to propose or finish actions. Every time there is a break, it is potentially an 80-meter race that can happen. But even in defense, as there are only seven of us, we have to cover the entire field. In general, 15-a-side rugby players who move up to sevens all lose weight..

Two to three matches per day

Another particularity of rugby sevens: the matches last only 14 minutes (two periods of 7 minutes), but follow one another, with two to three matches per day depending on the competition. During the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Blues will be required to play two matches per day, over a four-day competition, from July 24 to 27 (with a day without a match on the 26th for the opening ceremony). “You have to be able to play a 14-minute match at very high intensity, rest, get back into the swing of things two or three times during the day. It’s a pace to get into”warns Terry Bouhraoua, former Stade Français player and captain of the French sevens rugby team during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, now coach of the Mexico team.

Strategically, rugby sevens also has its particularities. “In rugby union, it’s complicated to go backwards, we try to gain meter by meter, whereas at seven, to create imbalances, we can afford to lose a little ground from time to time”explains Terry Bouhraoua. “In terms of physical demands, I have no questions for Antoine Dupont, but it is more the game itself that he will have to understand. If he can play two tournaments before the Olympics to allow him to understand its subtleties, I have no doubts about its ability to adapt”adds Pierre-Gilles Lakafia.

Scrum half at fifteen, Antoine Dupont should play in the same position, which exists at seven, with a few variations, such as ensuring the throw into touch. “He is omnipresent with the XV because his position requires him to be at the heart of the game, but at seven, we will not see him doing the same actions. I think we are not going to ask him to score three tries. 100 meters in a match, but with his play and his support, he will create imbalances and there will be players with even more speed than him who will finish the shots.”comments Terry Bouhraoua.

Two tournaments to assimilate the particularities of the seven-a-side game

With the back and forth between rugby union, with his club, Toulouse, and rugby sevens, with the French team, it will not be easy for Antoine Dupont to assimilate the subtleties of Seven. “But if any player is capable of doing it, with his superpowers, it’s Antoine Dupont”assures the former captain of the Blues sevens, who nevertheless warns that the scrum half will have to be careful to manage his workload well, “because to achieve his goals, he will flirt with the physical limit”.

Best player in the world in 2021, Antoine Dupont will bring his experience and his aura to the French sevens rugby team. “There will also be an impact on the opposing team. When your opponent is Antoine Dupont, you may have a tendency to tighten up a little, and therefore leave more space for the others players. There will be psychological pressure on the opponents.”, hopes Pierre-Gilles Lakafia. The captain of the French to include him in the selection for the Olympic Games.