Antoine Dupont

Antoine Dupont (born 15 November 1996) is a French professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Top 14 club Toulouse and captains the France national team. Dupont has won the World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year award in 2021 and three Six Nations Player of the Championships, the most by a French player. He has won nine major competitions in his career, including four Top 14 titles, two European Rugby Champions Cup, the Grand Slam of the Six Nations Championship, the 2023–24 SVNS and the Gold medal at the men's rugby sevens tournament in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Dupont was born in Lannemezan but grew up in the nearby village of Castelnau-Magnoac where he started playing rugby for Magnoac FC at the age of 4. In 2011, he joined Auch as a junior. In 2014, Dupont joined Castres in the Top 14 after the relegation of Auch in the 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 season. In November 2016, Stade Toulousain announced Dupont's recruitment for the 2017–18 season.

In 2019, Dupont won the Top 14 with Toulouse after defeating Clermont Auvergne 24-18 in the 2018-19 final. In May 2021, Dupont won the European Rugby Champions Cup with Toulouse after defeating La Rochelle 22-17 in the 2020-2021 final. As captain, he lifted the trophy after the final whistle. In the same year, Toulouse completed the domestic and European double winning the Top 14 for the 2nd time beating La Rochelle 18-8 in the final.

In 2016, Dupont was selected for the France U-20 team for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He was one of the stars of the tournament scoring 36 points which included 5 tries. In November 2016, he was selected for the French Barbarian team which played and beat Australia. Dupont was called up to the French first team for the first time ahead of France's fourth 2017 Six Nations Championship match against Italy as a replacement for Maxime Machenaud.

He made his debut in that game coming on for Baptiste Serin in the 72nd minute of an eventual 40–18 away win. In 2020, Dupont was named Player of the Championship during following the 2020 Six Nations Championship. In 2022, Dupont was named as France's stand-in captain in the absence of Charles Ollivon. Later that year, France won the 2022 Six Nations Championship, achieving the Grand Slam as a result.

This was France's first Six Nations Championship win since 2010. Dupont was awarded Player of the Championship for the third time. Though France did not win the 2023 Six Nations tournament, Dupont claimed his third Player of the Championship trophy, equalling Brian O'Driscoll as the only player to win the award three times. He is the third French captain after Fabien Pelous and Thierry Dusautoir to have beaten Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

He was selected to captain the 34-man squad for France as they hosted the 2023 Rugby World Cup. They would advance past the Pool stage, however they exited the tournament in the quarterfinals after losing to eventual winners South Africa. ... Source: Article "Antoine Dupont" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.