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Will Antoine Dupont follow the path of Louis Rees-Zammit in NFL?

Photo : @chargers

With AFP

Antoine Dupont, Olympic rugby 7s champion at Paris 2024 this summer, had the chance to participate in an American football introduction with the Los Angeles Chargers NFL team on Thursday, September 26.

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Expected to return to training with Stade Toulousain next week, Antoine Dupont has opted to finish his holiday in Los Angeles.

With LeBron James at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

After meeting LeBron James on Wednesday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the future venue for the Rugby Sevens events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the 27-year-old rugby player got the chance to have a go at American football at the Chargers’ training facility, “The Bolt”, which opened this summer in the southwest of the city.

“The first thing I did was watch the team training. We toured all the facilities, which are pretty incredible—just like you’d expect from the Americans. The changing rooms, the screens, the games room—everything is huge,” he told AFP.

“After that, I got to work on some skills—catching balls, tackling techniques, and even some footwork with kicker Cameron Dicker. I also did a bit of core work with the fitness trainer.

“It’s the best way to spend a holiday, being able to train while discovering some pretty cool things. And if there’s one sport that’s closest to rugby, it’s probably American football.”

So impressed

Dupont shone in Los Angeles in early March, helping the French team win the World Rugby 7s tournament, the first step in a remarkable summer that culminated with Olympic gold in Paris. In the meantime, he also led Stade Toulousain to a Champions Cup and Top 14 double.

“You can see how demanding these guys are on a daily basis, even in the cafeteria, with tailored menus, food supplements, the gym, the changing room—right down to the choice of spikes. They leave nothing to chance, with considerable resources at their disposal,” noted Dupont, who exchanged jerseys with Khalil Mack, a member of the Chargers’ defensive team.

Although he’s accustomed to being around big guys in rugby, Dupont was impressed by “the physicality of the players; they’re truly formidable athletes!”

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“In rugby, players still need to run, so they can’t be too heavy. There are some very specific positions here that are quite static, which is why the players are really massive.”

Could the Frenchman, who will be attending Sunday’s match between the Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs, the Super Bowl winners in February, follow in the footsteps of Welshman Louis Rees-Zammit, a rugby union international attempting to make his mark in the NFL this year?

“No, I think it’s quite far from rugby. I would really have to dedicate a lot of time to it. And to be honest, I don’t even have a position in mind where I could see myself,” he replied.

Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)

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3 Comments
B
Bull Shark 13 days ago

damn.


The headline got my hopes up.


Was really hoping he was also going to throw his rugby career away to go play foolsball.


I guess we’re stuck with him now.


Where’s LRZ anyway? Working at a diner?


The lack of biweekly updates has left us in the dark.

M
MP 14 days ago

Helmetball is the biggest waste of sporting talent.

T
Tom 14 days ago

I don't think Dupont would even be that good at American Football. He's fairly quick and he's very physical albeit for a pretty small guy but his talent is his playmaking and his versatility. He's so multifaceted and I don't think he'd be able to exhibit much of that in a game with such clearly defined, specialist roles. I can't see it happening.

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EV 4 hours ago
Is this why Ireland and England struggle to win World Cups?

Rassie is an extremely shrewd PR operator but the hype and melodrama is a sideshow to take the attention from the real reason for the Boks dominance.


Utimately the Boks dominate because Rassie and his team are so scientific and so driven. His attention to detail and obsessive analysis smacks of Tom Brady's approach.


He has engineered a system to find and nurture talent from the best schools to the most desolate backwaters. That system has a culture and doctrine very similar to elite military units, it does not tolerate individuals at the expense of the collective.


That machine also churns out three to five world class players in every position. They are encouraged to play in Ireland, England, France and Japan where their performance continues to be monitored according to metrics that is well guarded IP.


Older players are begged to play in the less physical Japanese league as it extends their careers. No Saffa really wants to see Etzebeth or Peter Steph or Pollard play in France or British Isles. And especially not in South Africa, where you just have these big, physical young guns coming out of hyper competitive schools looking for blood.


Last but but no means the least is the rugby public's alignment with the Springbok agenda. We love it when they win between World Cups but there is zero drama if they lose a game or a string of games for the sake of squad depth.


It's taken time to put it together but it has just matured into a relentless machine.

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