Antoine Dupont has become embroiled in a shock investigation merely days before France’s Six Nations encounter with Wales. The French skipper made an impressive start to the competition, with the defending champions opening their campaign with a commanding 36-14 triumph over Ireland last weekend.

A firm called 3S-Alyzia, who are partners with Toulouse, are reported to have paid £1.5million (€1.8m) to Dupont over nearly a decade and approximately £148,000 (€170,000) to Jelonch for image rights and advertising services which have been characterised as “virtually non-existent.”

L’Equipe are claiming that no public usage of their image can account for the substantial sums the players have received. The scandal raises questions about potential breaches of the Top 14 salary cap, which Toulouse have violated previously. The club received a £1.5m (€1.8m) fine last December for violating salary cap regulations in the acquisition of Melvyn Jaminet from Perpignan in 2022. They were also docked two points in the Top 14 table.

In their defence, lawyers have maintained that the utilisation of image rights and promotional services has been conducted privately, rather than publicly through posters or video content on social media platforms. In a bid to counter the accusations, Dupont’s legal representative has submitted 14 documents purporting to demonstrate his work for 3S-Alyzia. The documentation includes photographs from various events along with a pass from the 2019 Paris Air Show.

Yet L’Equipe have maintained the photographs would not qualify as individual image usage given they relate to the partnership between Toulouse and the sponsor. The publication further alleges certain payments made to Dupont by Fiducial, a club sponsor of Toulouse, would not have been included in the salary cap calculations. Notwithstanding the newspaper’s findings, an official inquiry into Toulouse has not yet been confirmed.

Nevertheless, that could change in the coming days should the evidence supplied by L’Equipe warrant an investigation by the LNR’s salary cap manager. The allegations arrive at an unfortunate time for Dupont, who seeks to guide France to triumph in Cardiff on Sunday. Speaking following the triumph over Ireland, the rugby superstar indicated his team will “dream big” in the competition.

He said: “We are ambitious anyway. We know how the tournament works and we take the games one at a time. We are going to Cardiff, it is always difficult going to the Principality Stadium, we have had some difficult matches. We are taking the matches one at a time, and we have to win the matches one after the other, then we are going to dream big.”