Overview
- The Fédération française de rugby announced Monday that Antoine Dupont has been removed from France's Nations Championship squad and replaced by his Toulouse team‑mate Paul Graou.
- The FFR did not state a medical reason, and the rugby paper Midi Olympique reports Dupont is sidelined by a calf injury.
- Dupont would not have been available for France's first match versus New Zealand on July 4 and his withdrawal now rules out the possibility he could have been reconsidered for later July fixtures.
- The call‑up of Graou continues a pattern of Toulouse players reinforcing the national squad after the club season and forces France to adjust its halfback depth for the new northern‑versus‑southern competition.
- Dupont's exit follows a long recovery from a March 2025 right‑knee ACL rupture and intermittent adductor issues this spring, a sequence that had made the summer tour an important step in his World Cup preparation.