2023-11-25 14:10:09
After Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry. The captain of the XV of France Antoine Dupont, who had already exchanged with the former number ten of the Blues before the World Cup, this time met the former striker of the French football team, now coach of the French hopeful team. A discussion on several themes, organized Tuesday in a Parisian hotel the day after Rugby Night where the French scrum half was once again elected best player of the year in the Top 14.
On the menu: the painful defeat of the French XV by one point (28-29) against South Africa in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup at the Stade de France. “When you think about all that, you dive back into it,” slips Antoine Dupont, visibly still affected by this setback. “You can’t regret what happened because it will shape you,” the former Barça and Arsenal striker later explains, also always marked by defeat after defeat. shot in the final of the Champions League and the World Cup in 2006. A defeat when you have it, you don’t want to experience it again. »
“I don’t really like to target the individual, but it was so strong at the national level (Editor’s note: the absence of Dupont due to injury during the World Cup), slips the boss of the French hopes, who had admitted his admiration for the captain of the XV of France for returning from his operation in time for the quarter-final. Who wasn’t talking about Antoine Dupont at some point? I don’t know how you managed it. I said it because I felt it. Everyone was worried about you. For me, it was the human side that touched me. »
“When I wasn’t making outbursts, I was frustrated because people were waiting for that,” explains the Stade Toulouse player, who has just celebrated his 27th birthday, at the heart of this detailed and lively exchange between the two men where they talk about their feelings during the Marseillaise before the kick-off of a match with the Blues.
Dupont: “I’m going to put myself in danger”
But the conversation naturally turns to the Olympic Games. If Thierry Henry will play them from the sidelines with the Blues of football, Antoine Dupont has made official his desire to prepare with the French sevens team for the event. “It’s an opportunity that I will surely not have another time in my life to try to participate,” slips the rugby player. The Olympics, we all have memories in front of the television watching the 100m or swimming finals. To tell you that you can participate with your sport, even if it’s not quite the same, in this ultimate competition…”
“I liked the challenge aspect. In the end, I’m going to put myself in a bit of danger because I’m going to change disciplines with guys who have been doing this for years while I did it a long time ago, he continues. There is a huge goal at the end, but it can be so beautiful. I told myself I had to try to put things in place to try to participate. »
Their most memorable moment of the Games? Usain Bolt for Antoine Dupont, when Thierry Henry talks about the handball Barjots who “touched” him. “But no one is above Marie-Jo,” insists the former footballer. The double in Atlanta in 1996 (200-400 m)… (…) Just wow. I was left speechless. »
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