“I’m not sure that the arbitration was up to the challenge.” A few minutes after the defeat of the French XV against South Africa in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup, Antoine Dupont was still bitter. Certain refereeing decisions were, according to him, contentious, and could have allowed the Blues to avoid this cruel disillusionment by just one small point.
A month and a half later, the disappointment is still very present. Returning to Stade Toulouse, where he returned to the field before discovering the French rugby sevens team with a view to the Olympic Games, the French captain explained in a video published on the YouTube channel “Bros. Stories”, toured alongside Thierry Henry, having rewatched the match the next day.
He never watched the 2019 elimination
“I watched it the morning after the shift because I couldn’t sleep,” he said. I told myself I was going to watch it now, so I wouldn’t watch it again afterwards. It was especially the refereeing stuff that I wanted to see. In 2019, we lost the quarter-final by one point (20-19 against Wales) while we were 12-13 points ahead and I never saw that one again. There, I needed to see if this feeling of injustice that we had was real. Even if it is of no use in the end, except to better accept certain things. »
Antoine Dupont, however, did not report the conclusions of this viewing. Is he convinced of the injustice or has he reversed his position? We don’t know at the moment. Still, like the majority of his teammates, the Toulouse player is currently getting back on his feet at the club. Very present on the media scene, particularly in view of his participation in the Olympics, the scrum half is undoubtedly beginning to digest this defeat and turn towards his next objectives.
