Antoine Dupont to skip Six Nations with an eye on Paris Olympics

France skipper Antoine Dupont is set to sit out the upcoming Six Nations to prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The 27-year-old scrumhalf will miss the competition held between February 2-March 16 next year to participate in legs of the World Rugby Sevens circuit.

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ANTOINE DUPONT TO SKIP SIX NATIONS

Exactly 250 days before the Games begin, on Monday, Dupont, his club Toulouse, and the FFR are scheduled to have a press conference where they are anticipated to reveal the plans.

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Dupont will join the French Sevens team in January ahead of the SVNS tournaments in Vancouver, Canada on February 23–24 and Los Angeles on March 2-3, .

Scrumhalf Dupont last played for France in the thrilling World Cup quarterfinal loss to eventual champions the Springboks at the Stade de France, which was his most recent XV-a-side match.

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Having missed out on World Cup glory at home, France are determined to make a big push in the sevens event at the Olympics.

“It’s highly motivating,” Dupont told RTL.

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“It’s incredible when you see the enthusiasm it can create. There is a desire from my side to put things in place for me to participate.

“It will be a discussion between the different coaching staffs,” he added.

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Many other elite XV-a-side players, including as former New Zealand centre Sonny Bill Williams and South Africa wing Cheslin Kolbe, who have each won the World Cup twice, have competed at previous Olympic Games.

SEVENS GOLD DRAWS BIG NAMES

Since Sevens was added to the Olympic programme, Fiji has won two gold medals for men; the lengthier version of the union code was last played at the Olympics all the way back in 1924.

Kylian Mbappe, the top player for Paris Saint-Germain and Dupont’s football team in France, is equally eager to compete in the Games at home and looks set to join the French squad which will largely be made up of Under-23s.

Due to Dupont’s enforced absence, France’s head coach Fabien Galthie will have to select a new captain and starting scrumhalf for the Six Nations, which begins on February 2 against Ireland.