Antoine Dupont’s withdrawal from the Guinness Six Nations, according to Warren Gatland, has been a big blow for France.
In preparation for the Paris Olympics later this year, the talented captain of Les Bleus at the World Cup has entered the sevens circuit.
And without him, France has suffered. After nearly upsetting Scotland, they were drawn at home against Italy and thoroughly defeated by Six Nations favorites Ireland.
On Sunday, they play Wales at the Principality Stadium. Gatland’s team hopes to defeat Wales for the first time in the Six Nations since 2019.
Having two or three X-factor players in your side can make a tremendous difference, Wales head coach Gatland said. We have been lucky enough with this in the past and it is the task going forward.
Sometimes you have two teams that are about equal, but one player’s particular skill might make all the difference in a game.
I have no question that Dupont is a huge loss for them. He is most likely the world’s greatest player.
What he has accomplished with the French sevens team is clearly evident. The sevens competition (in Los Angeles) was won by them.
They lose a lot when it comes to the nine-10 partnership with (Romain) Ntamack. It is challenging to touch with your finger.
A few modifications have been made. They may have felt that they don’t think they can win the Six Nations, so here is an opportunity to give some of their guys a shot.
It remains to be seen if Wales can capitalize on France’s current situation.
As Gatland’s team is yet to win in this season’s tournament, if they lose on Sunday, there’s a chance they’ll play Italy in a wooden-spoon final the following weekend.
Wales hasn’t placed last in the Six Nations standings for 21 years, despite having placed fifth in three of the previous four campaigns.
Much attention will be paid to the introduction of a new center combination, including Six Nations rookie Joe Roberts paired with Owen Watkin, following Gatland’s exclusion of George North and Nick Tompkins.
Additionally, Will Rowlands and Adam Bear have teamed up in the second row, moving captain Dafydd Jenkins from lock to blindside flanker.
We’ve spoken to the two youngsters (Roberts and Watkin) about their responsibilities,” Gatland continued. They have an opportunity to speak up.
What I am searching for is not so much their playing as it is their vocalization, their ability to communicate to the 10s and their ability to receive that communication from the outside.
They realizing how outspoken they must be in both attack and defense is also a huge issue for us to work on.
We had discussed giving Daf that opportunity (at blindside) early in the competition. When we did discuss it during one of the earlier games, he was quite thrilled.
He made fun of us for not having the guts to play him in the back row when we told him we were playing him in the second row!
As a young player, you have a decent possibility of getting that opportunity in a new position.
We are aware of the formidable opposition France will face, especially in the first 20 to 30 minutes. They could have been up by three tries at the time because they were so direct against Italy.
We must be prepared for a true physical test, especially during the opening exchanges of the match.