At a press conference this Sunday, the Springbok scrum coach spoke, one week before the meeting, about the possible return of the captain of the XV of France. If he admits his admiration for the Toulouse player, he confides that the World champions will not make him a target.
A few hours from packing his bags for the French capital, with a view to the quarter-final against the Blues, next Sunday, the Springboks held a final press briefing at the “Grand Hôtel des Sablettes Plage”. Last week, the world champions, who did not play this weekend, dodged questions about the clash against the host country, awaiting the final results of the group stage.
This time, it is now certain that the two nations will cross swords at the Stade de France. In this “special” week, as several Boks confided, a subject quickly came to the table: Anthony Dupont will he be there? “(Laughs) I can just tell you that he is a fabulous playerconfessed Daan Human, the ex-Toulouse resident. They play behind a dominant forward pack. They are incredibly good, and they are lucky to have a world-class scrum-half behind them. To answer your question, the World Cup was created for countries to meet, and for the best players to be on the field. I hope Dupont will be on the field and in the game Sunday night. We want to see the best in this type of meeting.”
Dupont is described as “a fundamental player”
However, the Springboks, heading into this week, have not planned to carry out an anti-Dupont plan. “We have to be honest, we will never focus on just one player, assured the ex-pillar. Rather, it’s about the system and the team as a whole. We won’t focus on just one player because I think sometimes we’re not sure what the right answer is. We can even have bad responses to a problem caused by a single element, because we often forget the qualities of the others around this player.
However, the person concerned agrees that Antoine Dupont’s return to competition would change the prospects of the French XV. “We are aware of the importance of this player for this team. We know that he is a fundamental player for them. But we have to analyze this team as a whole, and not focus on an individuality.” On the journey to Paris, the staff of the rainbow nation will have several hours to work on the characteristics of the gang in Galthié, with or without the Dupont rooster.