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With the Wallabies, All Blacks and Springboks heading for marquee matches in the northern hemisphere in the coming weeks, The Roar will be keeping track of what’s making news ahead of the tours.
Dupont’s insane return
Olympic gold medal winner Antoine Dupont returned to the XV-man game on Sunday and further cemented his reputation as the No.1 star of the game.
Dupont came on as a second-half replacement and scored a 10-minute hat-trick for Toulouse in their Top 14 clash with Clermont in a perfect comeback ahead of France’s big clash with New Zealand on November 17.
He arrived on the field on the 45th minute and the noise levels went through the roof two minutes later when the France captain darted through a hole in the Clermont defence to chalk up his first try of the night.
“He doesn’t need 50 chances, he’s an opportunist,” said Toulouse’s skills coach David Mele.
Seven minutes later Dupont was on hand for an inside pass from Ange Capuozzo to scurry over the line for his second and two minutes after that he grabbed his third, chasing down and scooping up the ball after the Italian’s kick into the Clermont 22.
“He came on and scored a hat-trick in 10 minutes,” said Toulouse teammate Anthony Jelonch at the end of a runaway 48-14 win. “It’s something only he can do.”
Always modest, Dupont played down the quality of the hat-trick.
“I always try to be in the right place at the right time,” he told Canal Plus after the game.
“Sometimes it works out better than others. These weren’t the most difficult tries of my career but it’s five points each time.”
Toulouse, last season’s Top 14 and Champions Cup winners, went into the Clermont game on the back of two defeats.
Any hint of concern about the way the team was playing evaporated on a difficult night for Clermont whose fans did their best to lure the scrum-half to the Auvergne: “Antoine Dupont to Clermont, come and wake up the volcanoes,” read one banner.
Talent is obviously key with Dupont, he is an immensely gifted rugby player, already of the greats, but there is more to his aura than that, notably his love for the game and desire to play and set new goals.
After suffering the massive disappointment of losing to South Africa by a single point in the World Cup quarter-final last year, Dupont chose to miss the Six Nations in order to try and get into the France Sevens team for the Paris Olympics.
His modesty never allowed him to consider himself an automatic pick.
History shows that he not only got into the team but was arguably the determining factor in their glorious gold medal success at the Stade de France.
A belated holiday, which saw him rubbing shoulders with Lionel Messi and LeBron James in the US, accounted for his late arrival to the Top 14 season but the break appears to have worked wonders.
“I made the most of the holidays but every time I came back to training it made me want to be out on the pitch with my mates at the weekend,” he said.
“I knew I had a good period to recover and then I could get back into it fully, so I came to training with a lot of enthusiasm.
“It’s great to be back in a game like this with a lot of desire and a lot of movement.
“I’ve known the guys in this dressing room for years so everything clicked back into gear right away. And even though I wasn’t here for several months, it feels like yesterday.”
Former Lions and Wales star retires
Former Wales, British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies has announced his retirement from professional rugby.
The 36-year-old finished club rugby with Scarlets after the 2023-24 season having scored 55 tries in 209 appearances across two spells for the Welsh region.
A two-time Lions tourist, including to Australia in 2013, won 96 caps for Wales.
“After taking time away from the game following the end of my last season with the Scarlets, I have come to the decision to call time on my professional rugby career,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I have enjoyed a break and a summer at home with my family, and been lucky enough to spend quality time with my newborn son, alongside my wife, as we embark on this new chapter together as parents.
“I will inevitably miss the camaraderie of training and playing competitively alongside my team mates, but over these past few months, I have been able to assess all of my options and reflect on a career of which I am incredibly proud.”
Davies – nicknamed Foxy – won two Grand Slams and a further two Six Nations Championship titles in addition to playing in two World Cups with Wales.
Scotland suffer injury setback
Scotland have been dealt an injury blow ahead of the Autumn Nations Series with flanker Andy Onyeama-Christie suffering a serious ankle injury.
The 25-year-old sustained the injury in the sixth minute of Saracens’ Gallagher Premiership clash with Harlequins on Sunday.
Play was paused for several minutes before Onyeama-Christie was carried from the field to applause from the crowd and both sets of players, some of whom we’re visibly distressed by the nature of the injury.
Onyeama-Christie, who has eight caps, was expected to be part of the Scotland squad for the matches this November – including a clash with the Wallabies.
So ugly was the injury that TV producers opted not to show replays.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall told BBC: “We’re talking maybe a fracture/dislocation of his ankle. Just gutted for him, everybody is gutted for him.
“He’s had a really tough few years, two broken arms. For that to happen is just horrendous for him. All our thoughts are with him.”
Onyeama-Christie was forced to miss the end of last season and the July Test campaign with a broken arm.
Ireland face hooker crisis
Ireland are facing issues at No.2 ahead of their Tests against the All Blacks on November 9 and Australia on December 1.
Hooker Ronan Kelleher has been ruled out after undergoing an ankle procedure, joining fellow No.2 Dan Sheehan on the sidelines. The country’s third choice, Ron Herring is also yet to feature in provincial rugby this season due to a calf issue.
Kelleher sustained his injury during a recent match and is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks, which means he will miss Ireland’s four upcoming November Test matches.
“Ronan had a procedure on his ankle so he’ll be gone for, I don’t know, four to six weeks,” Leinster head coach Leo Cullen told reporters this weekend. “The exact timeline… I’m not exactly sure on that, he only just got it done during the week.
In better news for Ireland their centre Robbie Henshaw is set to return to full training and could feature for Leinster against Connacht next weekend boosting his chances of appearing against the All Blacks.
(With agencies)
