Dominating the buildup to France’s Six Nations opener was the imminent return of its gilded charnière – the “hinge”, a term used for the half-back partnership – after nearly a year and a half apart. With Les Bleus, Antoine Dupont had last played alongside Romain Ntamack in the ill-fated World Cup warm-up game against Scotland when Ntamack suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament that sidelined him for eight months.
While the captain had already retuned from his Olympic exploits in the autumn, there was a sense that the Toulouse pair could finally elevate France back to the heights of the 2022 grand slam. That year, they had already established themselves as the most-used partnership in the history of the XV de France.
