Many fans and pundits raised their eyebrows when Antoine Dupont announced he would forgo this year's Six Nations to play rugby sevens in an attempt to win Gold for France at this year's Summer Olympics in Paris.
Probably the best player in world rugby, in an alternate universe France could be on the course for their second Grand Slam in three years off the back of dominant Dupont performances against Ireland, Scotland and Italy.
However, the idea of winning an Olympic gold in front of a home crowd in Paris was too tempting for the scrum-half and he chose to try make history.
People thought it would take some time for the 2021 World Rugby player of the year to get the hang of sevens. It's a very different game to rugby union and the fitness one needs to play on the world series are another level above those needed to play in the Six Nations.
But one thing people should know by now is to not doubt Antoine Dupont.
His combination of rapid pace and freakish strength has made him an instant star on the sevens circuit. In his first tournament last week in Vancouver he helped France to a third place finish, scoring a match-winning try against Ireland.
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Antoine Dupont's LA SVNS Highlights are ridiculously good
This week in Los Angeles Dupont has gone from strength to strength as he's settled into life at sevens like a duck to water. The weekend started off without a weaving run through the middle of the Canada defence as Les Bleus won 24-7 in their opening pool match.
Antoine Dupont: also good at Sevenspic.twitter.com/7fTYaOQ0nN
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) March 2, 2024
More highlights followed in France's second match against Great Britain as Dupont used his immaculate rugby IQ to loft the ball across the field for Toulouse teammate Nelson Epée to score what would be the winning try as they came out 19-12 winners.
Antoine Dupont.
Wow.
— RugbyLAD 🏉 (@RugbyLAD7) March 2, 2024
France lost their final pool game to Fiji which meant a quarter-final against hometown boys USA. It didn't take long for Antoine Dupont to stamp his mark in the first knock-out match.
With less than two minutes on the clock he picked up the ball in midfield, one dummy pass and a sidestep was enough for Dupont to get through a gap in the American defence and he showed real wheels as he raced to the try line to get the first score of the game.
Les jambes d’Antoine Dupont et une deuxième mi-temps bien gérée en inferiorité numérique envoient les Bleus en demi-finale.
Rendez-vous sur RugbyPass TV à 23h08 contre l’Irlande. #HSBCSVNSLAX pic.twitter.com/LMZBFRTCHQ
— RugbyPass FR 🇫🇷 (@RugbyPass_FR) March 3, 2024
France were victorious against the hosts, winning 14-0 and reached the semi-finals of the LA SVNS. They will face Ireland in the semi-finals tonight after Ireland beat Argentina 24-14 in their quarter-final last night.
They are both joined by Great Britain and Spain in the other semi-final. This is Spain's first ever semi-final in the SVNS series, having beaten Ireland in the pool stages and double Olympic gold-medalists Fiji in the quarters.
Both of the semi-finals will take place late tonight, with Ireland-France kicking off at 10:08pm followed by Spain-Great Britain at 10:30pm.
SEE ALSO: Stephen Jones Points Out 'Arrogance' Of 'Crowing' Irish Ahead Of England Six Nations Clash
