Paris 2024 Olympics: after taking Stade Toulousain to the Top 14 final, can Antoine Dupont lead the Blues to Olympic gold ?

Antoine Dupont peut rêver d’un troisième sacre cette saison. MAXPPP – LAURENT DARD

Author of two tries in the correction inflicted on Bordeaux-Bègles (59-3) in the Top 14 final on Friday June 28 in Marseille, Toulouse captain Antoine Dupont can now dream, after the Champions Cup and the championship, of ;rsquo;an incredible hat-trick with Olympic gold in Paris.

"It’s amazing. We wanted to mark the history of this club with this generation", commented on Canal + the Toulouse captain after the final, personally confident of having "achieves much more than I could have imagined as a child".

The headliner of French rugby had not kept any lasting memories of his previous outings at the Vélodrome stadium until now. He first received the only red card of his career with the French team during the 2022 fall tests, against South Africa, for having destabilized in the ;rsquo;looks like his former Toulouse teammate Cheslin Kolbe.

It was also in Marseille, during the last World Cup, that he suffered his famous fractured cheekbone after a head-to-head collision with a player from Namibia . "It doesn't really bring back good memories to see the exit by which I left the stadium a few months ago" , he admitted Thursday on the eve of the final. "But that was a completely different context. We must try to ignore all that, all superstition".

Incredible second try

The Marseille curse is now behind him after having largely contributed to the 23rd Brennus shield in the history of Stade Toulousain, his fourth personal with those of 2019, 2021 and 2023. After having already distinguished himself last month in the Champions Cup final, against Leinster (31-22 a.p.), in an unusual register of "scraper", Dupont did another job forward by scoring the first try of the match in force, in the sixth minute, despite several opposing defenders on his back.

His second, a good quarter of an hour later, will remain in the annals of the Top 14 finals, like that of Romain Ntamack at the end of the match last year against La Rochelle (29-26). With a kick over his counterpart and usual understudy for the Blues Maxime Lucu, the man of the match, who had never scored in a final, finished disgusting the UBB, aware of its powerlessness when the opposing team has such an asset.

Read also: VIDEO. Top 14 Final: inside pass behind a maul and incredible number from Dupont… Toulouse scored a magnificent try at UBB

"A few days to unwind"

The next to benefit will be the French rugby sevens team, with which "Toto" will aim for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics at the end of July. While his international teammates, who have been on deck for almost a year preparing for the 2023 World Cup, will take a well-deserved vacation, he will still have to work for several weeks.

"I will still have a few days to unwind before diving back into the next objective, which will be just as immense", he qualified before the final, aware that everything had been put in place around him to support him in his improbable challenge. "There is a whole program that was made a little tailor-made for Antoine, recalled his manager Ugo Mola. We managed, working hand in hand with the bosses of the VII, so that he had the necessary recovery and preparation."

Dupont notably skipped the 2024 Six Nations Tournament with the French XV to familiarize himself with the specificities of the VII, a significantly different discipline. He adapted to it with disconcerting ease and lost none of his performance in XV, even broadening his technical range and showing an unprecedented freshness at the end of the season. “What he forgot to tell you is that he has never had so many holidays”, teased Mola. His Girondins opponents were able to see this on Friday.