Rassie Erasmus gives his ‘5 cents’ on the debate.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has weighed in on the ‘hate’ that France star Antoine Dupont gets from South African rugby fans.
Dupont produced another standout performance for Toulouse this weekend as the French giants secured an 8-20 victory over the Sharks in Durban.
The Investec Champions Cup fixture was the first time that the French skipper had featured in a match in South Africa since making his Test debut for Les Bleus off the bench in 2017.
The livewire halfback did not disappoint despite Toulouse failing to secure a crucial bonus point as he assisted a try, racked up 120 running metres, beat four defenders and made two clean breaks.
Rassie Erasmus comments about Dupont
Much of the pre-match talk was not only centred around the heavyweight clash with so many internationals featuring in the fixture but also the perceived ‘hate’ for Dupont from Springboks fans.
Scroll through the comments section of social media posts which Dupont is the subject of and you are almost certain to find comments from South Africans stating that he is ‘overrated’ or slamming the number nine often because of his lack of rugby in the southern hemisphere.
But in Erasmus’ opinion, he does not believe that South Africans actually hate him but are instead annoyed by how good of a player he is.
The Springboks head coach expressed this view on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in a reply to a post by Brandon Portnoy.
“I can’t understand the hate for Antoine Dupont from South Africans. Dude is a world class rugby player and the most chill human being. Stayed and signed so many autographs and took so many selfies with the fans in Durban, what’s there to hate?” Portnoy’s post read.
To which, Erasmus replied: “Dont think their is anybody(who I know) who hates him, his just that good and difficult to beat when his in any team!! Think its more a sign of a brilliant player!! Thats why I think everyone is talking always about him (my 5 cents).”
The Bok boss will now plot his team’s plan to stop the brilliant scrum-half as South Africa are scheduled to face off against France during their end-of-year tour this year.
The fixture against France has been confirmed but according to reports the world champions will face Wales, Ireland and Italy in November.
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