Antoine Dupont had an \u2018off day\u2019 for Stade Toulousain as the French giants fell to a 20-14 Investec Champions Cup defeat at the hands of Saracens, according to England greats Dan Cole and Anthony Watson. <\/b><\/p>\n
The France captain featured in his sixth match since recovering from an ACL injury he sustained in the Six Nations clash against Ireland last year.<\/p>\n
However, this was the first game since his return that he had played the entire 80 minutes, but he was not at his best as the Champions Cup\u2019s<\/a> most successful team succumbed to a second loss from three this campaign.<\/p>\n Antoine Dupont\u2019s underwhelming performance<\/p>\n Planet Rugby\u2019s Louis Champman-Coombes scored the scrum-half 6\/10<\/a> while Rugby Rama<\/a> were less kind, rating him 4\/10.<\/p>\n \u201cThe French captain hasn\u2019t been able to make his usual impact with the ball in hand,\u201d Vincent Franco wrote for the respected publication run by Midi Olympique.<\/p>\n Adding, \u201cShortly before the half-hour mark, the Toulouse scrum-half made a major error, allowing himself to be charged down by Th\u00e9o McFarland. A few seconds later, Saracens scored their first try and completely changed their approach. A silly mistake with far-reaching consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking on the For the Love of Rugby podcast<\/a>, Cole said that Saracens successfully rattled Toulouse<\/a>, which made things difficult for the number nine.<\/p>\n However, Dupont<\/a> still failed to meet his high standards and Cole wondered whether his injury was influencing his performances.<\/p>\n \u201cSarries had them rattled because Toulouse weren\u2019t getting their own way. They weren\u2019t carrying across the gain-line. We talk about them being sloppy, but Saracens were in their faces, putting pressure on them, and Toulouse had to chase the game in the second half,\u201d the former Leicester Tigers prop began.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Saracens got the ball, they kicked down the other end of the field, and they stuck at it, a dogged performance.<\/p>\n \u201cI will say on Dupont, he has come back from an ACL injury, again, because the expectation for Dupont is so sky-high as the best player in the world, but it\u2019s going to take time for him to get back.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this game, he was on the field for 80, but he never looked like the Dupont we know, bouncing people, the strength he has running around making holes and teammates running off him and stuff like that. When you do your ACL, how long does it take you to feel back to 100% or back to your sort of athletic best?\u201d<\/p>\n Saracens v Toulouse: Five takeaways as Willis brothers show England eligibility rules are \u2018weapons-grade idiocy\u2019 as hosts respond after \u2018clear-the-air talks\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Give him a \u2018pass\u2019<\/p>\n Watson, who suffered the same injury during his career, replied: \u201cLike all of my injuries, it was an injury followed by an injury, so I had my ACL, and then I tore my calf. Fortunately, enough for me, I had a pre-season.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I did have the worst calves in the Premiership; now that title belongs to Christian Wade. But no, I think that you\u2019re absolutely right to point out that the expectations of Dupont are huge.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does take a while to get back to feeling your absolute self and not worry at all about your knee because it\u2019s such a long process \u2013 9 to 12 months being out with an injury.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes a while just to be able to fully trust it in every scenario again. Ultimately, there are times when you\u2019re on the field where you just can\u2019t put yourself in that situation in training to have the confidence that you\u2019re going to need in a game.\u201d<\/p>\n Toulon v Munster: Winners and losers as \u2018benchmark performance\u2019 eclipsed by \u2018on-the-road yellows\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Still, Watson believes that Dupont deserves a \u2018pass\u2019 for his outing at the StoneX Stadium and suggests that his performance was a result of him being out of form.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it is challenging. His rehab looked super thorough, as you\u2019d expect with someone like Antoine Dupont,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I think we can give him a pass for a game. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised at all to see him back absolutely ripping it up next week, because he\u2019s obviously got massive expectations of himself as well.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is different to answer your question. Everyone is different, but you do get some freaks who come back from their ACLs and rip it up straight away.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d probably put that down to form more than anything else. I wouldn\u2019t say that performance wasn\u2019t due to his knee in particular or anything else. I\u2019d probably say it\u2019s just an off game.\u201d<\/p>\n Cole agreed, stating that \u201ceven the best players have off days.\u201d<\/p>\n Investec Champions Cup<\/a> \u2013 The greatest club rugby competition in the world. Proudly sponsored by Investec<\/a>, leading International Bank and Wealth Manager.<\/p>\n