In the Dupont family, it is not only Antoine, the 23-year-old scrum half of the French rugby team, who is currently overwhelmed with praise. His big brother Clément, four years older, just received this Tuesday at the Paris Agricultural Show a distinction for his work in the breeding of Bigorre black pork. A very special pig breed, almost on the verge of extinction at the end of the 1980s and brought back into existence by a handful of Bigorre breeders, including the father and uncle of Antoine and Clément.
“There were only 2 males and 30 females left. Now there are about sixty of us raising this breed ”, indicates Clément, a young farmer who learned everything four years ago from the breeding profession in the footsteps of his uncle Jean-Luc Gales. The same who taught him the rugby of the time when the two brothers used their shorts and "broke a few windows and flowerpots on a square of lawn or a room in the house" in Castelnau-Magnoac, in the Hautes-Pyrénées.
Antoine, ambassador of Bigorre black pork?
Because the oval balloon never departs very far from Dupont. "We tried other sports well but each time we came back to rugby," smiles Clément, who still plays and is now playing in Federal 2 (4th division) at Miélan-Mirande at the half scrum or half opening position. Nobody forced us, but we quickly got a taste for it. The two brothers then set off for the Lannemezan rugby school with their uncle, who continued to play the educators. The trajectory of Dupont and Dupont ended up separating. “Antoine has an exceptional career and I was simply less gifted than him, admits the elder. High performance sport is hard and demanding. It wears out the bodies. "
The young farmer nonetheless remains a first-rate observer of the cadet's progress and performance. “I find in his game this instinctive side that he developed by coming to play very early. He tanned my mother to accompany me but he was only 3 or 4 years old! In fact, he sweats rugby. One has the impression that this sport is made for him. It develops a rare power-to-weight ratio, defends as a third line, marks trials. “Centerpiece of the Blues and the Toulouse Stadium, the young strategist does not forget his roots.
"Agriculture is not his thing to Antoine, recognizes Clement, but on the other hand he likes to settle down and come back here to calm. Many of our family live nearby. However, the idea germinated little by little to transform the now famous international scrum half into ambassador of Bigorre black pork. "He is very likely to be associated with it," agrees Clément. The sixty members of the controlled designation of origin would benefit from the aura of a player who intends to become without doubt one of the best players on the planet.
Clement will not see the Blues ... at the Agricultural Show
Now, Clement's present revolves around the development of the racy and bred pig raised in the open air, which gives according to some "one of the best hams in the world" and that others say worthy to compete with the Spanish Bellota. And if the profession of breeder does not give much respite to the elder Dupont, he nevertheless assiduously follows the exploits of the "brother" and his teammates in the Six Nations Tournament.
He was in the stands of the Stade de France for the first feat of the Blues against England (23-17) before vibrating from his sofa for the victory against Italy and especially in Wales (27-23). For Scotland, it's a trip between friends in Edinburgh that is looming: "It can be complicated but as the osmosis takes very well in the French team, we can be confident".
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Friday, part of the XV of France en route to the Grand Slam, will make a stop at the Agricultural Show on the sidelines of an event organized by France 2023, the organizer of the Rugby World Cup in France. Clément will have already returned to his region of Bigorre to find his exploitation. He will therefore not meet his little brother who will certainly be able to measure his new popularity rating that many politicians would envy at the moment.