Antoine Dupont has revealed the best way to handle his World Cup heartbreak is to keep himself busy, by targeting Olympic gold as well as Top 14 and Champions Cup glory.
France captain Dupont delivered a stellar performance to sit in bona fide bucket-list category for those on hand at The Stoop on Sunday, as Toulouse thumped Harlequins.
Five-time Champions Cup winners Toulouse swept seven tries past Quins for a 47-19 victory that underscores their clear ability to add yet another trophy to their storied silverware haul.
Dupont was – as always – at the heart of everything good about his side, mixing potency with finesse in equal measure in west London.
The 27-year-old shook off a broken cheekbone to feature in France’s World Cup quarter-final, only for the tournament hosts to crash out 29-28 to South Africa. Now the globe’s most impressive rugby star has taken aim at a brand new set of targets for 2024, to shake off that deep World Cup hurt.
Dupont will star for France in next summer’s Rugby Sevens at the Olympics in Paris, and will miss the 2024 Six Nations to prepare. He will still feature in 15s for Toulouse’s Top 14 and Champions Cup run-in, and is likely to turn out for France’s Sevens side in the coming months too.
Admitting he had to find a way to move on after the World Cup, Dupont remains confident he can handle the heavy – and mixed – workload.
“The last time I played Sevens I was 18 I think, but a lot is similar, it’s the same overall sport, but there’s a lot I have to work on,” said Dupont.
“I have a lot of calls with the (France Sevens) coach, he tries to teach me some skills and I’m watching the game just to learn and catch up. It’s hard but I have to make tough choices.
“For sure, we had a big competition with the World Cup, but it will be the same again with the Olympics. I have also the Top 14 and Champions Cup, so I have a very busy year ahead.
“I love that, I am very excited for that, and I will have to work a lot to be able to be competitive in all the competitions.
“Whenever you lose a competition, you want to do something else straight away, to try to win again, and that was the case with the World Cup. But we needed some weeks to join the group with Toulouse, to be together for a few weeks to be able to be competitive again.”
Toulouse have started their Champions Cup campaign with two wins on the spin, scoring 99 points in the process. Dupont sees no reason why his side cannot chase a sixth continental crown this season.
“It’s always a special competition for us, the Champions Cup,” said Dupont.
“The last two weeks have shown that we are very motivated for this competition.”
