Lyon (AFP) – After a full start to the season in Toulouse, Antoine Dupont is preparing to return to his captaincy of the XV of France, "rejuvenated" by the summer break, and wants to "enjoy" his presence at the helm of the game for the Blues, who face Fiji on Saturday.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 17:18

"I think it's never normal to find yourself there, sometimes you have the impression of finding yourself in a form of habit, but it remains something exceptional to be in the French team", launched the N.9 tricolor Friday after the captain's training in Lyon.

A presence that he obviously owes to his status as boss of French rugby, to his experience with the selection, but also to his first convincing months in the Top 14 with Stade Toulouse, where he seems to have found a level of play consistent with his extraordinary standards.

“I think he is much better physically already, I find him revitalized, in full capacity of his physical means”, estimated this week Patrick Arlettaz, coach of the Blues attack.

“100% physically”

It has been a long road for the French scrum-half since his right knee gave way, the cruciate ligament ruptured by an Irish charge, one afternoon in March 2025.

Dupont, who will celebrate his 30th birthday on November 15, experienced a convalescence of almost nine months, then a comeback a little less than a year ago, before less remarkable performances during the Six Nations Tournament and in the spring, finally concluded with a new title of champion of France.

Then, with calf discomfort, he gave up the launch of the Nations Championship in July, on the other side of the world, and was therefore able to benefit from a "normal" summer preparation, after three disrupted summers, by the 2023 World Cup, then his Olympic coronation in 2024 and finally his injury in 2025.

“Technically during the Tournament he was above any player, he managed to compensate for that,” recalls Arlettaz. But "there we can clearly see that he is in possession of his means, that he is 100% physically", rejoices the Catalan.

“When we give him time to prepare, to recover, to train, we have a player who is perhaps a little more in tune with his qualities and his talent,” Ugo Mola simply analyzed in mid-October.

This talent allowed him to gain momentum during the first Top 14 matches, with four tries and three assists on the clock, in addition to a newfound influence on his team's play.

Everything therefore seems in place for this “normal” start to the season, in line with the expectations that accompany it, to continue for the Blues.

The memory of 2020

Against Fiji on Saturday evening (9:10 p.m.), he will find his friend from the Toulouse hinge Romain Ntamack, 609 days after their last joint start in the selection.

“Happy for him that he is in full possession of his means, and me too, because I missed matches due to injuries too, so it’s good that we are both there,” says Dupont, positively.

The two men, who constitute the most aligned 9-10 pair in the history of the French XV (30th time on Saturday evening), were already there at the 2019 World Cup and had inaugurated the era of coach Fabien Galthié a few months later during the 2020 Tournament against England.

In the starting XV which will enter the Lyon pitch on Saturday, the duo of virtuosos and the tireless François Cros will be the only survivors of this Crunch.

“We were discussing it earlier, about the 2020 team. There aren't many who are there anymore, due to injuries, poor form, an older age... It shows that we have to know how to take advantage and savor every time we can wear this jersey, that we can come to the rallies,” assured the Toulouse resident.

© 2026 AFP

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