Antoine Dupont caps stunning arrival in sevens as France win first tournament in 19 years in Los Angeles
- After finishing third on his debut last weekend, France’s 15-a-side scrum-half and captain helps his country to LA title
- But his return to club rugby appears to rule him out of next month’s Hong Kong Sevens
France beat injury-hit Great Britain 21-0 to capture the Los Angeles Sevens title, completing a stellar introduction to rugby’s shortened version for Antoine Dupont.
The crown capped a triumphant first few weeks in the format for former World Rugby Player of the Year Dupont, France’s 15-a-side captain and scrum-half.
Dupont switched to sevens in a bid to compete for Paris Olympic gold later this year. He debuted last weekend in Vancouver, helping France to finish third, and has now been part of the squad’s first World Rugby SVNS Series title of the season and their first since the 2005 season.
He will next return to club rugby with Toulouse and reportedly will rejoin France’s sevens squad for the series finals in May, which would rule him out of next month’s Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
Dupont’s presence has energised the France team, which have moved up from seventh to fourth place on the overall standings.
