France international and Toulouse scrum-half Antoine Dupont has made a winning start to his Sevens career by appearing in the opening two games in Vancouver.
Dupont won the Six Nations Grand Slam title as France's captain in 2022 and remained captain until the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Antoine Dupont makes his Sevens debut
However, he decided to pursue his Olympic dreams and switched to the sevens squad to compete in the 2024 France Games, thus pausing his career in Toulouse and France.
This weekend he made his international Sevens debut in Vancouver, where fans welcomed the former World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year to huge cheers as he entered the game as stadium announcer.
Announcement of DuPont debut!
Let the magic begin! ✨#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSVAN | @DuPont 9A pic.twitter.com/h43wjztzOU
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) February 23, 2024
He entered the pitch with three minutes left in France's 24-12 win over the United States, making his second appearance in the second game of the day against Samoa, which France also won 40-7. did.
“Antoine is a very good player and it is very important for us to help him on the field. I think it was a good day for us and for him on the first day, winning the first two games.” Sevens captain Pauline Riva said.
“He's the best player in the world, so it's an honor for me to have him in this group.”
France beats USA in Vancouver 🌟#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSVAN pic.twitter.com/t0JeOy0PGz
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) February 23, 2024
France v Italy preview: Les Bleus continue Six Nations improvement with solid win over Azzurri
France aims to further improve
Meanwhile, Argentina, leaders in the men's competition, continued their dominance with wins over hosts Canada and Spain in Pool A.
Great Britain and Fiji also won their first two matches to qualify for the quarter-finals.
France will face Australia in the final pool stage match of the Vancouver Sevens, aiming to improve on their performance at the last tournament in Canada, where they finished runners-up to Argentina.
Without Dupont, France lost their first game of the 2024 Six Nations 38-17 to Ireland, but bounced back in the second round to beat Scotland 20-16.
Fabian Galti's duties include hosting Italy in Sunday's Six Nations.
read more: Did the Springboks beat France?What was the cause of Les Bleus' slump in the Six Nations since their withdrawal from the World Cup?
