Why did Antoine Dupont wear number 25 in Vancouver?

When Antoine Dupont walked onto the pitch at BC Place in Vancouver with the rest of the French team, the number 25 on his back was a real eye-catcher. The same thing happened when he came on against USA with just over three minutes remaining in the first match of the group stage.

Two explanations were given, and the first seemed logical. The world’s best XV player, with 52 international caps to his name, simply inverted the two numbers to personalise his jersey, as the Sevens tradition allows.

However, the second explanation is the official one, as confirmed to RugbyPass by the staff of France 7.

A tribute to his family

Rupert Cox, commentator of the tournament on RugbyPassTV, had put forward a much more personal and profound explanation for the native of Lannemezan (Hautes-Pyrénées).

In fact, the “2” refers to the month in which his mother and brother were born (February), while the “5” refers to the month in which his father was born (May). With this number “25”, Antoine Dupont wanted to pay a subtle but powerful tribute to his family.

And the tribute was more than perfect, thanks to France’s two victories in the opening match of the HSBC SVNS Vancouver: 24-12 against USA and 40-7 against Samoa.