Rugby Matters By Brendan Gallagher – A weekly look at the game’s other talking points
I think we established long ago that my admiration of Antoine Dupont knows no bounds, he is the best rugby player I have ever reported on or watched in the flesh, pipping Gareth Edwards by a short head, but there is no question that there is a gaping huge hole in his CV which many cite against him when the all-time lists are compiled and debated.
I’m not talking about his failure to land a World Cup winners’ medal – that is totally irrelevant to his iconic status in my eyes – but the deficiency to which I refer is that he has yet to take on any of the southern hemisphere giants on their own turf.
Yes, he has beaten all three in either autumn internationals or World Cup games and often been the star man in those games but that’s only half the story, isn’t it.
Proving it Overseas
You’ve got to be able to do it home and away, in front of hostile crowds and playing in unfamiliar conditions.
Edwards shone mightily in South Africa in 1974 – not so much in 1968 as it happens – and finished the 1971 Lions tour to New Zealand like a train although overall it was honours even with opposite number Sid Going.
Thus far Dupont, 27, hasn’t taken on the Boks on the High-veld at Loftus or Ellis Park, he hasn’t faced the All Blacks at their Eden Park citadel and endured the 24/7 scrutiny that even a short tour/series in New Zealand involves and he hasn’t encountered the, er, wit and barracking of Aussie crowds and media or played at the towering Olympic stadium.
I don’t doubt for a microsecond that he would excel down south – to my mind it’s a given – but alas France’s policy of sending understrength teams on their summer tours seems to rule this possibility out. In recent years second and even third teams squads have been dispatched to New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.
The Rationale
That late finish to the French Top 14 season – the French final is habitually the last weekend of June – and the uber competitive playoffs leading up to that final provides the rationale and frankly it’s difficult to argue with. France’s top players are usually out on their feet by early July and need to be recuperating on a beach somewhere.
Their league is the most demanding in the world, most French clubs take Europe seriously these days and at least one tends to progress to the final and the players involved don’t stint in the Six Nations and the autumn internationals. It’s full on.
Something has to give and the French Federation has decided it’s the summer tour.
And who’s to say that approach hasn’t reaped dividends with France mining its goldfield of younger players and unearthing all sorts of exciting talents.
Eight young French players made their debuts in Mendoza back in July when a very makeshift French Second XV defeated a pretty much full-strength Pumas side 28-13. And we all saw what that Argentina side went on to achieve later in the summer.
All this however does mean that France, the Six Nations side who were first out of the blocks with individual tours in 1949 when they visited Argentina, are not now the draw they should be, the box office attraction that hosting unions pray for.
NZRU Disappointment
This has bitterly disappointed the New Zealand Rugby Union who were hoping and expecting that Les Bleus would reverse this policy and arrive fully booted and suited next summer.
No matter what you say about the ABs they always trek up to Europe every autumn with a squad pretty much approximating to their best. As a result they are always a draw and the hottest ticket in town.
But no, it was confirmed recently that France would be travelling to New Zealand without some of their premium players with those contesting the Top 14 ruled out altogether.
“It’s been like this for four years. Why change strategy? Because we’re travelling to the All Blacks?” argued Fabien Galthie in defence of his decision.
“You have to be consistent. We built on trust while adjusting the management of the international season by choosing to rest our ‘premium’ during the summer tours.
“Players will benefit from four mandatory weeks off and four weeks without matches. It was the first step. We want to go even further which will mean we’ll go on tour in the summer of 2025 in New Zealand without our ‘premium’ players.”
Set in stone?
Ouch, so it would seem set in stone. Or is it? Dupont has already shown that he marches to the beat of a different drum. He decided he wanted to play in the Olympics Sevens and such is his stature that both Toulouse and the French Federation bent over backwards to make it happen.
It was inconvenient to both club and country, deals and compromises had to be struck, but Dupont got his way.
And, as you may have noticed, rather like Edwards in his pomp, it’s now October and he hasn’t even laced his rugby boots in anger this season.
This week he decided to continue his autumn sojourn with a long dreamt of trip to California and in particular the Los Angeles Chargers where he spent much of the week hanging out with the guys while also taking in an LA Angels baseball game. Living the dream.
Dupont embraces every challenge, he doesn’t hide away from anything and he knows there is an elephant in the room, a question mark that some critics and doubters want answered. Don’t be surprised if he is soon knocking on Galthie’s door insisting on being part of a big summer tour down south.
READ MORE: Wallace Sititi is following in father’s footsteps, but for how long?
