Antoine Dupont

Antoine Dupont (born 15 November 1996) is a French professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Top 14 club Toulouse and captains the France national team.

Dupont has won the World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year award in 2021 and three Six Nations Player of the Championships, the most by a French player. He has won eight major trophies in his career, including four Top 14 titles, two European Rugby Champions Cup, the Grand Slam of the Six Nations Championship and the 2023–24 SVNS.

Early life
Dupont was born in Lannemezan but grew up in the nearby village of Castelnau-Magnoac where he started playing rugby for Magnoac FC at the age of 4. In 2011, he joined Auch as a junior.

Club career
In 2014, Dupont joined Castres in the Top 14 after the relegation of Auch in the 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 season. In November 2016, Stade Toulousain announced Dupont's recruitment for the 2017–18 season.

In 2019, Dupont won the Top 14 with Toulouse after defeating Clermont Auvergne 24-18 in the 2018-19 final. In May 2021, Dupont won the European Rugby Champions Cup with Toulouse after defeating La Rochelle 22-17 in the 2020-2021 final. As captain, he lifted the trophy after the final whistle. In the same year, Toulouse completed the domestic and European double winning the Top 14 for the 2nd time beating La Rochelle 18-8 in the final.

International career
In 2016, Dupont was selected for the France U-20 team for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He was one of the stars of the tournament scoring 36 points which included 5 tries.

In November 2016, he was selected for the French Barbarian team which played and beat Australia.

Dupont was called up to the French first team for the first time ahead of France's fourth 2017 Six Nations Championship match against Italy as a replacement for Maxime Machenaud. He made his debut in that game coming on for Baptiste Serin in the 72nd minute of an eventual 40–18 away win.

In 2020, Dupont was named Player of the Championship during following the 2020 Six Nations Championship.

In 2022, Dupont was named as France's stand-in captain in the absence of Charles Ollivon. Later that year, France won the 2022 Six Nations Championship, achieving the Grand Slam as a result. This was France's first Six Nations Championship win since 2010. Dupont was awarded Player of the Championship for the third time.

Though France did not win the 2023 Six Nations tournament, Dupont claimed his third Player of the Championship trophy, equalling Brian O'Driscoll as the only player to win the award three times.

He is the third French captain after Fabien Pelous and Thierry Dusautoir to have beaten Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

He was selected to captain the 34-man squad for France as they hosted the 2023 Rugby World Cup. They would advance past the Pool stage, however they exited the tournament in the quarterfinals after losing to eventual winners South Africa.

Personal life
Dupont graduated from high school in 2014, obtaining his baccalaureate in science, particularly biology and natural science. He then completed an undergraduate degree (licence) in science and techniques of physical and sports activities (STAPS) at the Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University in 2018. After graduation, Dupont attended the Toulouse School of Management, a public management school which is part of the Toulouse 1 Capitole University, from 2018 to 2020 and earned as a graduate a master's degree in sport management.

With his two years older brother Clément, he bought and renovated an old rural estate located in his childhood village that belonged to his grandparents. The venue reopened in 2021 and is used for parties, wedding receptions, and other types of corporate events.

In addition to his native French, Dupont can speak English.

Commercial endorsements
An acclaimed and popular athlete, Dupont is one of the highest-paid French players with income of €600,000 per season, as of 2021. In addition to his salary and bonuses, he has endorsements with many brands and global companies, including Adidas, Peugeot, Volvic and Tissot while he was sponsored by Land Rover until 2021. In 2016, he signed a sponsorship contract with the German sportswear and equipment supplier on a deal worth €40,000 per year. In 2022, he became a brand ambassador for retail company Groupe Casino and France state-owned railway company SNCF. Additionally, he appeared on the cover of video game Rugby 22 alongside Cheslin Kolbe and Will Skelton.

Other appearances
Dupont has been involved in films and series focused on Toulouse. From 7 November 2020 to June 2021, French filmmakers Éric Hannezo and Matthieu Vollaire filmed a 107-minute black and white documentary feature film Le Stade, which follows the French club during Stade Toulousain's 2020-21 Champions Cup and Top 14 successful campaign, after having shot more than 600 hours of dailies for weeks. The movie was theatrically released on 13 April 2022 in France by Pathé and took around 67,000 admissions domestically. A sports docuseries of the same name, using unseen footage and containing four 40-minute episodes, was released on the streaming service Paramount+ on 22 December 2022.

Alongside former rugby union player Sébastien Chabal, Formula One driver Esteban Ocon, astronaut Thomas Pesquet and multiple French artists, he took part in the 2023 Les Enfoirés charity concert edition for the Restaurants du Cœur. The show was broadcast by TF1 on 3 March and had an audience of more than 8 million viewers.

He appeared in the video clip for the song Dernière by French rappers Bigflo & Oli, released in June 2023. A tribute song was also dedicated to him the same month, and a biographical comic book was released in September 2023.

About three months prior to the kick-off of the 2023 Rugby World Cup opening match, a wax figure of Dupont went on display at the Musée Grévin in Paris.

List of international tries
Correct as of 25 September 2023

Honours

 * Toulouse
 * 2× European Rugby Champions Cup: 2021, 2024
 * 4× Top 14: 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024


 * France
 * 1× Six Nations Championship: 2022 (Grand Slam)
 * 3× Runner-up Six Nations Championship: 2020, 2021, 2023


 * France 7
 * 1× SVNS: 2023–24 SVNS
 * 1× Spain Sevens: 2024
 * 1× USA Sevens: 2024
 * 1× Canada Sevens Third place: 2024


 * Individual
 * Winner - 1× World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year: 2021
 * Nominee - 2x World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year: 2022, 2023
 * 3× Six Nations Player of the Championship: 2020, 2022, 2023
 * 2× European Professional Club Rugby Player of the Year: 2021, 2024
 * 3× Nuit du rugby International Player of the Season: 2021, 2022, 2023
 * 2× Nuit du rugby Player of the Season: 2021, 2023
 * 1× Nuit du rugby Breakthrough Player of the Season: 2017
 * 2× Midi Olympique World Award: 2021, 2022
 * 4× Midi Olympique Golden Award: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
 * 1× Rugby World World's Best Player: 2021
 * 1× 2023–24 SVNS Rookie of the Year Award: 2023-2024