On a bracing evening in Edinburgh, antoine dupont walked off a bruising pitch while his partner and her mother filled the stands, eating local fare and shouting support. Iris Mittenaere and Laurence Remond—cheering, photographing behind-the-scenes moments, and sampling fries, beer, sausages and haggis—were there in person as the match left more questions than answers for the captain.
Antoine Dupont: What happened at Murrayfield and why it matters?
At the match, the French captain’s visible frustration culminated in a refusal to shake the hand of his opponent Ben White after a 50-40 defeat. Ben White, identified in the match as the Scotland scrum-half, had been reported to have taunted the French captain, and the exchange underscored tensions on the field. Afterward, Antoine Dupont offered a direct rebuttal to rumors about his fitness, insisting he had not had physical problems that would have prevented him from playing.
What did Iris Mittenaere say about the online harassment?
Iris Mittenaere, Miss France 2016 and former Miss Universe 2016, has moved from public cheerleader in the stands to an assertive public voice defending her rights off the pitch. She described being the target of a campaign of hate and defamation on social networks and said she had chosen silence for a time out of modesty and respect for past relationships. She declared, “I am determined to have my rights upheld. A criminal complaint has been filed with the public prosecutor for disclosure of private correspondence, public defamation, cyber-harassment and incitement to cyber-harassment. At the same time, an emergency civil procedure is under way for invasion of privacy. I have instructed my lawyers to do everything to stop these actions. “
How are family and teammates responding?
Support came in several forms. Laurence Remond, mother of Iris Mittenaere, captured and shared the couple’s Edinburgh moments, writing in her posts words that mixed humor with emotion: “Come on the Blues, ” “We eat local, ” and “We vibrated, we stressed, we screamed a lot. ” Those images and captions presented a domestic counterpoint to the scrutiny playing out elsewhere.
On the team side, Thomas Ramos, teammate on the French national rugby team, offered a player’s defense of the captain: “Knowing his level of professionalism, Antoine would not have played this match if he had not been 100% fit. He was a little sick at the beginning of the week, it’s true, but I don’t believe he will use it as an excuse. When you get everyone used to seeing you run across the field multiple times, all eyes turn to you the day things go less well. ” Ramos’ words framed the performance as an anomaly rather than a new norm.
At the intersection of the stadium and social media, the human cost is visible: a public figure navigating pressure from fans and commentators while private life and past relationships are reexamined. Iris Mittenaere has previously spoken about painful personal episodes and the aftermath; she emphasized the need to protect privacy and pursue legal remedy rather than tolerate ongoing attacks.
The moment in Edinburgh—family photos and local meals in the stands, a tense handshake moment on the pitch, a captain answering questions about his form—consolidates two parallel stories: a sports performance under scrutiny and a partner pressing back against online abuse. Neither narrative resolves neatly. For now, antoine dupont returns to training and public attention, supported by his partner and family, while Iris Mittenaere pursues legal avenues she says are necessary to stop the spread of falsehoods and harassment.
Back in the crowd where the story began, Laurence Remond’s final posts—part celebration, part exhale—remain a small, human image: two women in a foreign stadium, eating local food and shouting for the man they came to see. It is an image that now carries extra weight, a reminder that the person who left the pitch must contend with more than just the next match.
