France rugby captain Antoine Dupont will chase Olympic gold later this month after being named on Monday to the 12-man rugby sevens squad for the Paris Games by the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
The Toulouse scrum-half, who led France at the Rugby World Cup on home soil last year, skipped this year's Six Nations to fully integrate into the national sevens squad and adapt to the faster-paced format.
Dupont played a key role in France's sevens success, helping them win their first leg title since 2005 in Los Angeles in February and securing another victory in Madrid to finish the campaign. Despite participating in only three of the eight legs, he earned the Rookie of the Year award.
In a stellar season with Toulouse, Dupont also helped secure the Champions Cup in May and the Top 14 title in June, scoring two tries in the final against Bordeaux-Begles to bring his club tally to 11 for the season.
Here are your 24 teams heading to #Paris2024 😍#Olympics | #Rugby7s pic.twitter.com/eGT74gVAgg
— Rugby Sevens (@SVNSSeries) June 23, 2024
France won the rugby 15s gold medal at the 1900 Paris Olympics, but the sport was absent until it returned as sevens in Rio 2016, where the French men’s team finished seventh. They did not qualify for Tokyo 2020, though the women’s team won silver.
Led by Dupont, the French men's sevens team is drawn in Pool C with two-time Olympic champions Fiji, Uruguay, and the United States. The French women's squad features three players from the 2022 15s World Cup team, Caroline Drouin, Joanna Grisez, and Chloe Jacquet.
Rugby sevens is a fast-paced, intense version of the sport with matches lasting just 14 minutes. It is known for its high tempo, with more sprints and tries compared to rugby union. Scoring in rugby sevens mirrors that of rugby union: five points for a try, two points for a conversion, and three points for a drop goal or penalty.
