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France call up 20-year-old Dupont as injury cover

Antoine Dupont

Coach Guy Novès has sent out SOS for the young Castres star ahead of this weekend’s match against Italy.

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France coach Guy Novès has called up Castres Olympique wunderkind Antoine Dupont to the squad for the weekend’s game against Italy in Rome this weekend, in case Maxime Machenaud fails to recover from injury.

Racing 92 scrum-half Machenaud has come off the bench in all three of France’s Six Nations matches so far, but missed training at Marcoussis on Wednesday on medical grounds, prompting Novès to send out an SOS for the 20-year-old, who will join Toulouse next season.

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Dupont, who can also provide cover at 10, has been preferred to future Toulouse team-mates Jean-Marc Doussain – who was in the matchday squads for the first two rounds of the tournament – and Sébastien Bézy. Barring further setbacks in the national team, both players will be available for the club’s all-important next Top 14 game against Brive, as they try to force their way back into the top six.

They are currently eighth, but have never finished outside the top six in the history of the Top 14 competition.

The young star of the Top 14 announced himself on the international scene with an impressive display for the French Barbarians against an Australian XV in Bordeaux in November.

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SK 2 hours ago
Jean de Villiers: ‘Next year will be the acid test for this group’

It seems to me that a core of players will make it to 2027 if they stay fit. Siya, PSD and Eben are all part of that core. The question is who else? De Allende may not make it which is why Rassie has started playing Am at 12 and has Moodie as his back up at 13. Also Esterhuizen is an established 12 already in the mix. Even Pollard has played 12 so Rassie keeping all his options open. Willemse can play 12 but his defence is sometimes lacking. Mgomezulu can also play there and he is a good physical player who makes his tackles. De Allende though is so hard to replace. He tackles, he turns over, runs over players and he distributes. Rassie is making plans for all positions in a similar way. At tighthead and loosehead we have seen the Bok depth this year with injuries to multiple players and yet the scrum stood strong and dominated. At hooker he has used 4 or 5 different players. Bongi will not likely make 2027 but the young guys are coming through. Willie has been tapped as a future coach and right now is a player coach. His swansong will come next year but Fassi is now a solid option at 15 to complement Damian and challenge him. At wing there is endless depth right now. In the loose forwards there are already some established options for 2027 and Louw has now stepped up with Hanekom coming through. At lock injuries to multiple players saw Nortje step up and Moerat is now an established player. Ruan Venter also a good back up and some good youngsters coming through at the Bulls. Springboks finding solutions but question is will this squad be experienced enough come 2027. Lots of change still to come and lots of learnings still to be had for many of these young players.

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