Rugby surely misses Antoine Dupont as much as Antoine Dupont misses rugby. The star Stade Toulousain scrum-half has been champing at the bit since 8 March and his awful fresh setback to the right knee with France against Ireland. He is currently following the demanding reconditioning work needed to shorten his lay-off and get back on the pitch in the best possible condition.

A comeback envisaged 8 months after his knee injury

A tedious but necessary tunnel that he shares on social media with his followers, and whose end he could reach before the end of November. That, at least, is what he told L’Équipe: “I tell myself it is already a reasonable timeframe. I hope everything goes well between now and then.“. That is roughly 8 months after his injury, a span that may seem both long and logical for a player who had already suffered a ligament rupture in the same knee in 2018.

While he waits to pull his boots back on in competition, the France captain is not short of things to do away from rugby, having represented France on Monday – Bastille Day – at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan.