France's Dupont coy on flyhalf role before South Africa clash
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PARIS, Nov 12 : France captain Antoine Dupont remained tight-lipped about how he will approach his new role at flyhalf in Friday's Nations Championship match against South Africa at the Stade de France.
Dupont, who has never played at flyhalf in a test and has only filled the role eight times at club level, will start against the world champions in a selection gamble forced by an injury crisis, with Maxime Lucu stepping in at scrumhalf.
Dupont declined to reveal how much time he will spend in the pivot role, or whether he might switch positions with Lucu during the match, despite persistent questioning at Thursday's pre-match press conference.
"You'll see tomorrow how we try to adapt," he told reporters.
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"We've tried to put together a combination that works as well as possible for the team, with as much flexibility as possible.
"Romain's (Ntamack) injury wasn't planned, nor were the injuries to the three other flyhalves,” he said.
Ntamack went off near the end of the first half of last Saturday’s 54-17 win over Fiji after dislocating his shoulder. France already had Matthieu Jalibert and Thomas Ramos out with thigh injuries and Antoine Hastoy unavailable after suffering an ankle injury last month.
Lucu came on for Ntamack on Saturday and played most of the game at flyhalf while Dupont stayed in the scrumhalf role.
“Both of us have that versatility to play No. 9 or 10, so we've discussed it and we'll adapt to whatever the game presents.”
"So we're doing the best we can with the qualities each player brings, which are different, to make the team function as effectively as possible," added the French skipper, whose quick-thinking handling and slippery eel-like ability to evade tackles and dart through the opposition have made him often seem capable of doing anything on a rugby field.
"It was a decision to reverse the roles and we discussed it together. Once again, we'll adapt, taking into account each player's qualities, which are different. I don't really have much more to add,” Dupont said.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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