Antione Dupont motivated ahead of Sevens debut

The scrumhalf made the surprise move to sit out the ongoing Six Nations in order to focus on training and attend tournaments in the upcoming World Sevens Series. Dupont is aiming to feature at the Vancouver Sevens on 23-25 February in Canada.

"There's a lot of excitement, a bit of worry too," Dupont told French premium television channel Canal+.

"It's a really motivating challenge which I will approach in a studious way to learn first up and then quickly perform well."

Meanwhile, France got their Six Nations campaign off to a disappointing start with a 38-17 loss to defending champions Ireland in Marseille on Friday night. The 52-cap veteran admitted it was difficult to watch at times, but backed his teammates to bounce back positively against Scotland next week.

"It was hard to see France in such difficulty," continued the influential No.9.

"It was a step too much, we threw too many spanners in the works."

"I'm not worried for the boys, they're a squad with character and ambition and I'm sure they'll bounce back for the next match in Scotland."

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