France superstar Antoine Dupont is pushing hard for a return to action as his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury enters its final stages at Toulouse.
The 27-year-old tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on 8 March during France’s Guinness Six Nations win over Ireland in Dublin.
It was an injury that shocked the French rugby public and ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Six weeks on from lifting the Top 14 title with Stade Toulousain in June, the squad returned to training on Monday in temperatures topping 30 degrees. New recruits Teddy Thomas and Georges-Henri Colombe, both signed from La Rochelle, were among around thirty players present.
Dupont, who continues his daily rehab work under the supervision of club medics, has yet to be cleared for full training but, according to a source close to the club, is “chomping at the bit” to get back on the field.
Missing from the first session were Pierre-Louis Barassi, Joshua Brennan and Paul Mallez, all recently back from France’s summer tour to New Zealand, along with Blair Kinghorn, currently in Australia with the British & Irish Lions, and Argentina internationals Juan Cruz Mallia and Santiago Chocobares, who start their Rugby Championship campaign this week. Kinghorn and the three French internationals are due back on 18 August.
Toulouse’s summer programme features two friendlies: against Vannes in Guingamp on 22 August and away to Bayonne on 28 August. Their Top 14 title defence begins away to Clermont the weekend of 6 September.