2023-12-14 18:01:17
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 43 minutes ago, Updated now
Antoine Dupont against the Cardiff Blues. VALENTINE CHAPUIS / AFP
Stade Toulousain travels to the Harlequins pitch on Sunday, for the second day of the competition.
Facing Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care on Sunday with Toulouse will wake up Antoine Dupont.a strong memory»: that of his very first European Cup match, at the end of which he recovered his counterpart’s jersey, which he carefully kept. It was January 24, 2015. Dupont, then 18 years old, had slightly longer hair, a baby face, and was still taking his first steps in the professional world under the colors of Castres.
«It was under the snow», he recalled Thursday at a press conference. “In the end, we took 40 points (47-19 defeat), so it wasn’t a great collective memory. But for me obviously, it was a strong memory. Because my whole family was there and I was playing against the English stars of this team“. Among them: Danny Care, whose scrum-half in the making had inherited the jersey through his Castres teammate Rory Kockott, of South African origin.
“But who is this guy? It was Antoine Dupont.
«I still have it at home today», affirmed Dupont. “We have met again other times since (with Care) in the French team jersey, but here, at a club, the wink is nice. I hope the ending will be different on Sunday“. Still at Harlequins, Care (36 years old, 96 caps) has not forgotten his first confrontation in Castres with Dupont, author of an essay that day.
«We took a look at the Castres before the match and this little guy didn’t look like a rugby player“, said the Englishman last March. “I remember Chris Robshaw telling us: +He’s just out of school, we’re going to do it». «And after ten minutes, he (Dupont) quickly plays a hand penalty. He bounces off Chris Robshaw, fakes Nick Easter and passes Nick Evans before scoring between the posts. I said to myself : “But who is this guy?” It was Antoine Dupont.»
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