Antoine Dupont hailed as 'greatest example' of sevens switch: Tom Mitchell
France star Antoine Dupont has been told his decision to skip the Six Nations has a golden chance of paying off at the Olympics this summer.
Rugby union’s best player is taking a major gamble by parking his XVs career to represent France at sevens in the upcoming Paris Games.
In his absence Les Bleus struggled badly until last week’s unearthing of a gem in his scrum-half position in rookie Nolann Le Garrec.
Le Garrec, the 21-year-old likely to partner Owen Farrell at halfback for Racing 92 next season, was France’s match-winner against Wales.
The youngster marked his full debut by breathing new life into France’s attack, scoring a try and capping an all-action display with a reverse pass so outrageous that, days on it is the talk of rugby.
In so doing, he marked England’s card ahead of Saturday’s clash in Lyon, where, should Ireland fail to pick up a point at home against Scotland, Jamie George’s team will have a shot at Six Nations glory.
Great Britain legend great praises Dupon’t sevens switch
Le Garrec’s plaudits are deserved, but Great Britain’s sevens great Tom Mitchell reckons Dupont remains untouchable – and says his stunning transition to the abbreviated format confirms his genius.
“For me, he is the best player in the world,” Mitchell, who captained GB to the silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, exclusively told Planet Rugby. “One of the best, I think, we’ll ever see.”
The former World Rugby sevens player of the year nominee was in Los Angeles to witness Dupont, playing only his second sevens tournament, inspire France to a first title in 19 years.
“You never want to pin it on one person because rugby is a team sport,” Mitchell says. “But it’s very hard to argue there wasn’t one player that made the difference.
“It’s hard to find any other correlation. This one player, who is an exceptional talent, has come in, added immense value and suddenly France are winning.”
With Dupont having marked his sevens debut in Vancouver the week before with a bronze medal, Mitchell did not expect the reigning Six Nations player of the year to even feature in LA.
He explained that the risk of injury increases substantially in a back-to-back tournament “due to the fatigue you’re carrying and the soft tissue damage that occurs from week one.”
Not only did he play, Dupont was a standout performer.
Mitchell said: “The conditioning is different in sevens from XVs. You have to alter your conditioning and one of the things that often XVs players get found out with is their top-end speed – because everyone on a sevens field is just that bit quicker.
“There’s a very high base level of pace, and yet he ran in tries despite being hounded down by some very fast players. It is testament to his unbelievable engine and the way, physically, he has adapted.
“He was manhandling people in the tackle, in rucks stealing ball, passing kicking, roaming with his runs. To execute those skills on a sevens field when you’re layering on that bit of fatigue is just remarkable.”
“Seamlessly” jump to sevens
Dupont, France’s XVs captain, confirmed afterwards that a gold medal in a home Olympic Games is the clear reason he is missing the Six Nations and a chunk of Toulouse’s Top 14 campaign.
“We’re all focused on this, on busting a gut,” he told L’Equipe. “We’ve got a few months and tournaments to go. But we’ve all got this target in mind with the objective of doing something special.”
The 27-year-old has already lifted France from seventh to fourth in the rankings, and Mitchell is not about to bet against him.
“Going from winning LA to Paris gold is not a leap at all,” he said. “Dupont is far and away the greatest example of someone coming across from an almost purely XVs background and, not only slotting in seamlessly, but adding value.
“Having such a superstar come in can have a detrimental effect on a team. We saw that in previous years, I guess New Zealand and USA in Rio, where they bought some big guns in and they actually didn’t serve the team all that well.
“I’m not saying that’s down to any of those players specifically, but when you’ve got such a star, it can make the other players feel a bit lesser.”
Fast learner
Mitchell put exactly that point to Stephen Parez, who plays the same position as Dupont on the France squad.
“He told me, ‘No, it’s not like that’,” said the Sussex-born Englishman. “He said they are just grateful to have someone of Dupont’s quality and experience come into the fold.”
What has struck Parez as particularly remarkable is Dupont’s ability to learn and pick things up at the first time of asking.
“The way Stephen put it, you show him or tell him once in training, and he nails it,” added Mitchell. “It doesn’t take him reps and reps to get it right.
“To me, it doesn’t look like Dupont is playing with any pressure on his back, and I definitely expect France to be in the mix come Paris.
“It could come down to how they perform in front of a home crowd, and obviously, Dupont brings experience on that front from last autumn’s World Cup.”
Until a week ago you would have got long odds on France’s Olympic sevens squad faring better than the nation did in that tournament, where champions-to-be South Africa ended the dream.
