‘Contagious’ Ant eases Covid crisis
FRANCE boss Fabien Galthie has backed World Player of the Year Antoine Dupont to lead Les Bleus out of the Covid nightmare to Six Nations glory.
Coronavirus swept through the French camp last week with 10 players – including Dupont – having to isolate and disrupting Galthie’s masterplan.
But scrum-half Dupont, plus fly-half maestro Romain Ntamack, are expected to be fit and firing * when the French take on Italy next Sunday.
And Galthie, a former France scrum-half and World Player of the Year in 2002, reckons Dupont can help lift his side to a first title since 2010.
The 52-year-old said: “Antoine has become a very good leader and an extremely important team member.
“To some players he is a role model and they look up to him – he is a good defender, good in attack and he has got a temperament, and is very demanding and ambitious. That is contagious for the rest of the team.
“Other players want to be like him because he is the best player in the world.”
France smashed the All Blacks 40-25 in Paris in November and nearly beat the Wallabies Down Under last summer with a thirdchoice side.
Galthie had his squad training with the French Foreign Legion at Camp de Carpiagne, in Marseille, where they had the legion’s mantra of ‘combativeness, moral strength and team spirit’ drummed into them.
And Galthie says his new tough love will help the French overcome the Covid hurdles.
He added: “Some players had to leave at the start of week.
“It is difficult because they had been selected but we have been used to dealing with crises.
“We had them in the Autumn Nations Cup and on the tour of Australia.
“The problem should be seen as an opportunity to move forward.”