Antoine Dupont wins season-long Sevens award after inspiring France to another title

Dylan Coetzee
France star Antoine Dupont in Sevens.

France star Antoine Dupont in Sevens.

France superstar Antoine Dupont added more accolades to his rapidly growing list after not only winning the SVNS finale in Madrid but also being crowned rookie of the season for the circuit.

Just a week earlier, Dupont led Toulouse to a record-extending sixth Champions Cup title, bagging the Player of the Match award in a dramatic final that went all the way to extra time.

Win after win

As the debate around where he sat amongst the game’s greats raged on, Dupont switched codes, returning to the France sevens set-up for the finale as part of the build-up to the Paris Olympics in July.

The 27-year-old featured sparingly where possible to save the legs that had played nigh on 100 minutes the weekend before. However, he would almost inevitably grab the headlines with the most incredible performance against Great Britain where he scored a long-range try, complete with a monster fend before setting up another to seal the win.

Dupont would also make a big impact in the final against favourites Argentina where he bagged a neat try assist as Les Bleus ran riot to win, taking strong momentum into their home Olympics.

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Award winner

The Madrid event was the last of the revamped SVNS set-up so the tournament was followed by an award ceremony and surprise surprise Dupont was named rookie of the season.

It is a fantastic achievement for the Frenchman and even more impressive considering Dupont did not play the entire season as he switched between sevens and 15s.

However, the facts clearly tell the story as France last won a title 19 years ago but, since Dupont’s involvement, they have won two in half a year. It is therefore clear to see why he claimed the award.

The Madrid event also saw another high-profile 15s star make the switch to Sevens with Ireland’s Hugo Keenan trying his hand at the faster code in the hope of Olympic glory. The full-back slotted in fairly seamlessly, rolling back the years to his Sevens days before his rise under Andy Farrell.

It all makes for a fascinating Olympic games, which takes place between July 26 to August 11 in Paris.

READ MORE: Antoine Dupont goes viral again with a BRUTAL FEND and stunning solo try firing France into SVNS semi-finals

France Antoine Dupont

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