To know the name of the best player of the year, we must officially wait until early Friday afternoon and the announcement of World Rugby. Unofficially, Antoine Dupont has already drawn his best suit, like Lionel Messi every time he receives a Ballon d’Or. And it is not the words of Ugo Mola, Tuesday at a press conference, which calmed the rumor.
“I saw him take lots of pictures,” joked the manager of the scrum half at Stade Toulousain. Chances are he won. “Since the creation of this award 20 years ago, only Fabien Galthié (2002) and Thierry Dusautoir (2011) had hoisted the French colors to the top. Without this revolutionizing the life of the winners, especially off the field.
“Obviously, your notoriety is more important, it is a world distinction which makes you enter a prestigious circle, indicates the” Dark Destroyer “, present in the jury this year. But for the contracts themselves, it did not particularly change anything. “
After the coronation of Dusautoir, a decade has passed, one of the worst in tricolor rugby. But for almost two years, an ultra-talented generation, also made up of Ntamack, Marchand or Alldritt, has put some sparkle in the lives of lovers of the oval. Promoted captain of the Blues this fall, the spectacular Antoine Dupont led his people to a resounding victory over the All Blacks in Saint-Denis (40-25), in front of 80,000 spectators and up to 7.6 million viewers.
“The icing on an already generous cake”
So at just 25 years old, this title of best player of the year, it is “certainly the icing on an already very generous cake, which would increase its international influence”. The pastry metaphor is the work of Christophe Quinquandon, president and founder of Bros. Among other activities, this company supports companies in their marketing, but also around twenty athletes, including Dupont.
“In 2017, after the first year of the agency, I asked each partner to define his heir, both to become a partner by Bros. and an athlete that we would like to represent. Blaise Matuidi replied Presnel Kimpembe and Vincent Clerc said Antoine. “Known by the ex-winger, retired but still visible on 4X3s in our cities like his colleagues from the 2000s Chabal and Michalak, the former player of Auch and Castres has since blazed his trail without needing a chaperone.
He ticks all the boxes
“There were tremors in 2019, recalls Quinquandon. 2020 has been a bit floating [avec le Covid-19]. It was complicated for the brands to position themselves, the Top 14 had not come to an end. 2021 is really the year of the explosion. Antoine was decisive in big matches within a European champion team and French champion for the second time in a row. It’s a match-winner, with incredible individual statistics. “
But in a discipline where the collective sacrosanct is as much a sporting reality as a formidable marketing argument, Dupont’s personality also fits perfectly with the expectations of the sponsors. “It carries the values that brands seek in rugby. He is an exemplary teammate, who blends in with the team spirit. It is both atypical and very contemporary. “
In terms of tradition, the Stadiste is rooted at the foot of the mountains, in his stronghold of Castelnau-Magnoac (Hautes-Pyrénées) where he has perpetuated the family tradition of hotels and gastronomy by creating the Barthas estate with his brother Clément, Bigorre black pig breeder. On the “modern” side, he will chat with Mouloud Achour on the set of Click. “He can go see Vianney one week and a rapper the following week, listen to Georges Brassens then Damso”, underlines Quinquandon.
A “ten or so partnerships”
Speaking of eclecticism: Dupont, holder of a master’s degree in sports management, today displays a “ten or so partnerships” very varied, indicates the boss of Bros. Olympic noon mentions an entry ticket of around 80,000 euros per year, in addition to his estimated salary of 600,000 euros per year in Toulouse. What sponsors are courting him? “It goes from traditional brands that will make industrial glues to
NFT platforms. “And beware, there aren’t many places to take, because inevitably, the best player in the world remains a rugby player before being a professional photo shoot.
Alongside the sport-stamped partners (Adidas, Eden Park), it has, for example, become the ambassador of Swiss Tissot watches and has just signed a partnership with Puressentiel (essential oils). “Antoine can be an international figure, as was Dan Carter [demi d’ouverture des All Blacks, double champion du monde et trois fois élu meilleur joueur de l’année] », Underlines Quiquandon.
The future looks bright for the Toulousain, his colleagues in blue and their bankers, with the Mondial-2023 at home looming. In club as in selection, Dupont evolves next to Romain Ntamack, the other headliner of tricolor rugby. “There’s really room for them both,” says the founder of Bros. Already because it is a team sport. And then because rugby so needs figures who embody this renewal. “
That said, Dupont has already risen above the colorful but rather small world of rugby. The man who jokes with Jean Dujardin in the locker rooms of Marcoussis and the Stade de France will be the guest on Monday evening of C to you, the very general public talk-show of France 5. Habile.