'It was a big bulls*** that could have cost us dearly'

Antoine Dupont has vowed not to repeat his late-game calamity which gave England back the possession they needed to clinch a losing bonus point in last Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations.

The liveware scrum-half kicked the ball dead thinking that time way up, only to learn there was still the guts of a minute left to play – enough time for the English to win the penalty that Owen Farrell converted for an unexpected bonus in their 24-17 defeat.

“I thought we were at the end of the last minute, not the penultimate,” explained Dupont to Midi Olympique about his time-keeping error.

“There were three seconds left when I lowered my head into the ruck and I was sure it was over. Well, I quickly understood that I was wrong for a minute! I will put the lenses in the next game.

“Yes, we laughed. Even if, ultimately, the English took the losing bonus as a result of this error. We can laugh about it because there were no big impacts but if we lost the match on this, it would not have been funny at all. 

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“Some people said to me, ‘It’s good Antoine because we passed the time… personally, I rather see it as a big bulls*** that could have cost us dearly. It’s up to me to watch out next time.”

France, who host Italy on Sunday in round two, initially had a 24-0 lead against the English only to come under pressure in the closing 20 minutes. It was another lesson for Dupont and co. 

"Your Fodens and all these other players…They kind of disappear into the background whereas this guy absolutely does not.”

– @rugbyunitedny founder talks about the impact of @BastaOfficiel with @heagneyl #FRAvENG #MLRugby ???? https://t.co/asNSLRjYI3

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 2, 2020

“When they scored, there may have been some harmful thoughts, but they were quickly evacuated. We got together and reiterated that we had to lift our heads and keep doing the same. 

“Confidence was the watchword. There was no reason to stop. If they had scored those tries earlier, it would have been a whole different story. We managed to maintain this lead, so work on is the strategic and mental aspects.”

WATCH: The Rugby Pod previews the round two weekend in the Guinness Six Nations