Toulouse will let Antoine Dupont miss club season as scrum-half targets France sevens spot at Paris Olympics

Toulouse are willing to let their captain Antoine Dupont fulfil his Olympic dream, according to the club’s head coach Ugo Mola.

The scrum-half was instrumental in securing the club’s 22nd league title as Toulouse beat La Rochelle in the Top14 final earlier this month.

With a packed schedule of international rugby, including the Rugby World Cup in France later this year and the Six Nations championship in February 2024, Heineken Champions giants Toulouse face the prospect of a season without Dupont’s services.

Dupont is one of the most recognisable names in world rugby and his absence from next season’s club campaign would be a huge blow to Toulouse’s hopes of defending their league crown and winning a sixth European Cup.

Speaking to French rugby magazine Midi Olympique, Mola revealed discussions had already taken place between Toulouse and the France Rugby Federation (FFR) to allow Dupont to realise his Olympic sevens ambition.

He said: “I can understand why Antoine, at 26 and after three French championships, a European Cup, a [Six Nations] Grand Slam and – I hope! – a World Cup, would want to play in the Olympics in France.

“Antoine, Christophe Reigt and Jerome Daret and I have been talking.The Federation seems open [to it], as do the league and our president, too. All the indicators are green.

“But there are other details to sort out, because a large part of the player’s wages are paid by the club.

“We’re getting ready to spend half a season or a full season without him.”

Toulouse are the most successful side in Heineken Champions Cup history, with five titles, the last of which came in 2021.

The French outfit lost to Leinster in the semi-finals of last year’s competition as Top14 rivals La Rochelle went on to win back-to-back titles in Europe.

La Rochelle were denied a league and European Cup double by Dupont’s Toulouse thanks to a last-minute try by fly-half Romain Ntamack.