The Toulouse number 9 showed a sublime performance with La Rochelle demonstrating that he is back in full fitness after the injury
Antoine Dupont: “I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard and for so long in my life”
Antoine Dupont is back in fine form following his Six Nations injury with Ireland. The bad images of his exit from the field accompanied by the French medical staff due to a ruptured cruciate ligament are behind us.
La Rochelle knows something about this as last Sunday, in the last Top14 match which ended 60-14, he conceded nine tries, two of which from the scrum half.
After the victory over Ronan O’Gara’s team, the French number 9 told the media that he was surprised to have reached a high level of play so soon: “If you had asked me halfway through my rehabilitation, I would have said no. But then, when I started to get back on the pitch, I felt that the feeling with the game and the bond with the guys around me returned very quickly.”
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Antoine Dupont is back in great shape
“I still had some work to do on my athletic abilities, but those came back pretty quickly too. With a little work, obviously. I’m not going to lie, nothing came back on its own. In any case, I put myself in the best possible condition to come back. I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard and for so long in my life. I wouldn’t have come back halfway. So, I’m happy today to see that everything has paid off,” said the 1996-born attacking midfielder.
Since his return to the field Dupont has played 5 matches, 2 of which as a starter: the first in the Champions Cup in the match lost against Glasgow and the second against La Rochelle in which he also provided an assist to Ange Capuozzo (a run that ended in a goal).
So far the 29-year-old halfback has scored 3 tries, playing a 44′ try in 5 games: “Honestly, I feel like before. I no longer have any discomfort and I’ve regained my rugby form quite quickly. At the beginning I had some fears, which is normal after an injury like this, but I quickly recovered all my abilities. Now, at least for the future, I have no more excuses. If things continue like this, I hope my knee holds up.”
Disappointed by the heavy defeat, Ronan O’Gara, head coach of La Rochelle, said: “I saw Antoine Dupont in great form. He is a genius as a scrum half.”
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