One of the toughest jobs in French sport awaits him. Facing Italy on Friday, October 6, in Lyon (9 pm Paris time), Maxime Lucu will be tasked with stepping into the shoes of – for one night at least – the phenomenon that is Antoine Dupont. In this final Pool A match of the Rugby World Cup, the scrum-half from Union Bordeaux-Bègles (UBB) replaces the iconic captain of Les Bleus, sidelined by a cheekbone fracture contracted during the French team's decisive victory over Namibia (96-0).
"The French team is a group of 33 players and each one is important. We are here because we have a role to play at a given moment. For me, it's this weekend," said Lucu on Wednesday from the Monts d'Or on the outskirts of Lyon, where the French team was preparing for the match. Originally from Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Lucu is no stranger to standing in for Dupont: Of his 17 caps, 12 were as a substitute for the Toulouse player. Regularly in the starting lineup when the French coaching staff fields a B team, as against Uruguay earlier in the World Cup, the Basque player most often stands in for the 2021 World Player of the Year toward the end of the match, once the result is well in hand. In the victory against New Zealand at the opening of the competition (27-13), he came on in the 76th minute, when Les Bleus were leading by nine points. In the name of continuity, the coaching staff prioritized the UBB player for the number nine jersey.
Unlike many of his teammates, Lucu is a relatively recent recruit to the French national team, only joining in 2021. But he quickly carved out a role as Dupont's ideal replacement. In fact, as a child, he never dreamed of a career in rugby. Having never been part of the national youth teams, he joined the French top flight (Top 14) in 2019, when he moved to Bordeaux. "I came to understand the extent of the high standard quite late, at around 23 or 24, when some people already have 30 caps," the scrum-half told Le Monde in June. "Everything comes late with me, but that's the beauty of it. I've always believed in what I wanted to do, and I knew how to seize my chance. Joining the French national team at the age of 28 is really something. I'm living a dream, and I'm fully savoring these moments."
As someone who is used to the situation of stepping in to replace Dupont, Lucu didn't seem particularly daunted by the task ahead. "I've found him to be calm since Antoine's injury. (...) He works very hard and has his feet firmly on the ground," said Les Bleus fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, with whom he forms the half-back pairing at Bordeaux. "He hasn't asked himself many questions. He's part of the group, knows the system and it's easy to integrate into the collective when you've been living together for years. He's ready to take on that role this weekend," he said.
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