Underdogs, and fine with it
Antoine Dupont did not pretend. On the eve of France’s Test against South Africa at the Stade de France, the captain told RMC Sport the Springboks start as favourites “on paper”. Then he flipped it. “We have nothing to lose in this match,” he said, other than leaving everything out there.
It is a fair read of the situation. Romain Ntamack, Matthieu Jalibert and Thomas Ramos are all injured, which is why Dupont wears 10 on Friday night with Maxime Lucu at scrum-half. It will be his sixth Test against the Springboks and his first in that shirt.
He was candid about how rushed it was. The call came quickly and the pairing got one training session together. Asked how the roles would be split, he stayed vague on purpose, saying France would adapt to what South Africa show them and that people would see on the night.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
The physical test first
Dupont described the Boks the way most of world rugby does. Since their 2019 title, he said, they have a sharply defined identity and a game plan built on physical dominance. France’s first job is to stand up to that collision battle. The second is to give them as few trips into French territory as possible, because once they get there they are hard to stop.
Are they France’s bogey side? Dupont widened it out. South Africa have beaten plenty of teams over the past seven or eight years, he pointed out, and France are among the few who have beaten them at all. To break a run like that, you have to snatch the game at the right moment.
Alldritt’s return, and no talk of 2027
The captain backed Gregory Alldritt, back in the side after a year away. Dupont said the La Rochelle No 8 sees this as a chance to show his level again and has returned full of energy.
The World Cup in Australia is a year off, and Dupont refused to look that far. The squad will look different by then, maybe South Africa’s too. For now it is one match, against the side most expect to win the whole thing.
Kick-off in Saint-Denis is 21:10 local time on Friday.
Discover the rest of our Rugby news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply