Antoine Dupont crowned best sevens rugby player after an exceptional year – Libération

One more title to crown an exceptional year. Four months after leading the Blues from sevens rugby to the Olympic gold medal, Antoine Dupont was named best septist of the year on Sunday, November 25, during the World Rugby Awards 2024 which also honored the South African Pieter-Steph du Toit, best XV player. Antoine Dupont had already won this last distinction in 2021 for his performances with Stade Toulouse and the XV of France. Sunday evening, he became the first male player to have been crowned best player at both XV and VII. A complete and accomplished rugby player.

The Toulouse native, who discovered rugby sevens this year with a view to the Games, was decisive during the Olympic tournament, notably scoring two tries in the final won against Fiji. However, he only played four tournaments out of nine throughout the year, but those who doubted his adaptation quickly backed down. After a first tournament where he was content with the end of matches in Vancouver in February, he continued by showing great abilities in Los Angeles, where the French men’s team won their first tournament on the world circuit since 2005. His speed, his intelligence of the game and his devastating rackets then lit up the Madrid tournament, where the Blues won the world circuit after a decisive 60-meter try from Dupont in the quarter-final.

A Championship-European Cup double with Stade Toulousain

Like all of his partners, he first seemed taken by the challenge at the start of the Olympic tournament, at the Stade de France. Often placed on the bench at the start of the match, Dupont helped swing the matches to the French side. This was particularly the case during the final. For his first ball, on the kick-off, he bypassed the entire defense, outpacing even the supersonic Fijians, before giving it to Aaron Grandidier at the last moment to avoid the return of a defender.

The Olympic tournament and the first French gold medal at the Paris Olympics, the day after the opening ceremony, further increased Dupont’s popularity in France and around the world and chased away the disillusionment of the 2023 World Cup . That said, the year 2024 was also prodigal in this last discipline. His stints at VII, with a schedule arranged thanks to an agreement between the federation and his club, did not prevent Dupont from seeking a Championship-European Cup double with Stade Toulousain, where Dupont shone at every time he played.

France also wins the title of best coach and the best attempts at XV

On the other hand, he did not participate in the 2024 Six Nations Tournament, where his absence was felt in the game produced, even if the Blues finished second behind Ireland. His non-participation in the Tournament de facto prevents him from claiming the title of best player in XV, which is fixed only on international matches. South African flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, a major player in the Boks’ success in the Rugby Championship, won the trophy for the second time after 2019.

France won three other distinctions: that of best coach for Jérôme Daret, the coach of the Blues at the Paris Games, as well as the XV tries of the year scored by winger Marine Ménager and scrum half Nolann Le Garrec . England fullback Ellie Kildunne was crowned best player in XV thanks to her 14 tries in 10 matches, underlining the overwhelming domination of the “Red Roses” in world rugby one year before the World Cup at home. New Zealand third row Wallace Sititi and Irish Erin King were crowned revelation of the year.