Monsieur Dupont (ta, la, ta, ta)
Monsieur Dupont (la, la, la, la)
You made me see so tenderly
That I was never loved before
Monsieur Dupont (ta, la, ta, ta)
I know it’s wrong (la, la, la, la)
That I don’t ever want to go home anymore

Sandie Shaw was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. 

She had three number one singles and won the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest with the ‘Puppet on a string’.

In 1969 she had a top ten hit with a song called ‘Monsieur Dupont’ it reached number six in the UK singles chart.

Now Sandie always sang barefoot which caused quite a stir at the time, no Adidas predators for her, yet her footwork was nothing like as spectacular as the man from Lannemezan.

Whether she had a premonition about a wonderful scrum half still yet to be born is a moot point, but maybe it is time for a re-release of this record to coincide with the continued stratospheric rise of the wonder of the modern game Monsieur Antoine Dupont.

Another one of Sandie Shaw’s number one hits was the composition ‘Always something there to remind me’ now that definitely relates to the Toulouse Demi de Mêlée.

Last Saturday at Twickenham Dupont left us with an awful lot to remind us of his wonderful talents. Also the unthinkable happened with the try-line at his mercy he dropped the ball, we never realised he was human.

Nicknames feature heavily in the world of sport, whether it is your local pub team or at the top end of the professional game, no one gets away without a nickname or two, Dupont has several.

Those who know him well call him Toto. Less familiar connections refer to him as ‘Ministre de l’intérior.’ Toulouse teammate and fellow French international Cyril Baille refers to him as ‘The Martian’ when I asked him why? He replied, “Dupont does not come from the same planet as the rest of us.”

After defeat at Twickenham France head to Rome next Sunday to face Italy.

Rome has been a significant staging post for Antoine, he made his France debut there in 2017 and scored his first international try in the eternal city in 2019. This time he will be looking to get Les Bleus back on track after their loss to England.

Former France scrum half nine Richard Astre now aged 76 is in no doubt as to the talents and influence of Dupont.

“With Antoine Dupont, I find a taste for the initiative. For a long time, the number nine was asked to be above all a passer of the ball, with speed and more speed. I had the impression that the scrum-half was no longer taking the initiative, that he was no longer the brain of the team, and that he had left this function to the number 10. I thought it was a shame. Antoine Dupont, on the other hand, searches for spaces, he is even voracious of them. He put the church back in the centre of the village.”

A poetic conclusion from Astre the scrum-half who won six Top 14 titles in eleven years with Béziers and captained France on six occasions.

There is no doubt that the church is well and truly back in the centre of the village, and the congregation that come to worship Antoine Dupont France’s rugby messiah continues to grow.

Read all about Antoine Dupont and five other great scrum halves in my new book Behind Enemy Nines available from Amazon via this link for only £5.99 https://amzn.eu/d/8ODbtWD