Why is Antoine Dupont not playing in the 2024 Six Nations? The answer: Paris 2024 Olympics
Find out more about the French captain’s decision to miss the northern hemisphere’s biggest rugby competition for the upcoming Olympic Games in France.
Why is Antoine Dupont not playing in the 2024 Six Nations?
It’s a question that many will surely ask as France prepares to wrestle back the Six Nations title from defending champions Ireland on Friday night's tournament opener.
The talismanic 27-year-old is widely held to be one of the greatest rugby union stars currently playing and certainly, deeply influential when it comes to the fortunes of the French national side.
The reason for his absence? Rugby sevens at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Dupont, who plays for Top 14 side Stade Toulousain, last November revealed it was his ambition to compete for his country at home Olympics Games and to make that dream a reality, preparations require he skip the Six Nations.
"Competing for an Olympic medal is really motivating," Dupont told Canal+ at the time of the announcement.
"We'll have to adjust things. I won't be able to play all the matches every weekend until the end of the season. Sacrifices will have to be made to be able to spend time with the team."
As sacrifices go, missing one of rugby’s biggest tournaments is certainly a big one but it is not one that was unexpected among those in the know.
In a recent press conference, France head coach Fabein Galthié revealed that Dupont’s absence from this year’s edition of the rugby showpiece had been known as far back as two years ago.
“Antoine’s idea of playing in the Olympics has been in the line for two years,” Galthié said, confirming that the departure was planned.
So how does one of the most celebrated scrum halves in the world transition to the fast-paced, high-intensity world of rugby sevens?
That, Dupont is discovering with each passing day.
At a recent sevens camp in January, the former World Rugby World Player of the Year was put through his paces and was reportedly not spared from the burpee rituals typically inflicted on new members of the squad.
The feeling so far from coach Jerome Daret about Dupont’s progress has been largely positive:
"He's a player who is laying himself bare. He's getting out of his comfort zone and he's keen to fight,” Daret told the AFP.
"Antoine has all the skills to be able to exist in this game, in terms of speed, but we need to gradually get him to be able to handle this load."
Antoine Dupont: The road to Paris 2024 starts now
While his national teammates prepare to battle for the Six Nations title they lost to Ireland last year, Dupont’s rugby schedule will look slightly different.
Instead of trips to the hallowed grounds of Twickenham and Murrayfield, Dupont will be heading on cross-Atlantic journeys to Vancouver and Los Angeles where he will compete on the rugby sevens tour.
He is also expected to be in Madrid at the end of May to have three legs under his belt before the Games.