By Lucky Vince Pienaar
- When it comes to the greatest rugby player playing today, almost all experts agree that France’s Antoine Dupont is the best.
- This weekend he faces a tough test when France plays England. The rugby world will be watching Antoine Dupont.
To say that Antoine Dupont is the greatest rugby player of all time is looking for trouble.
There are just too many candidates for that title in the history of the game, and how can you compare (say) Jonah Lomu with Os du Randt, or Dan Carter with Pieter-Steph du Toit?
Even when it comes to comparing scrumhalves, the game has produced some great players.
Joost van der Westhuizen has to be considered a great of the game. When it comes to most tries scored by a scrumhalf in Test rugby, he is number one. He scored 38 tries in 89 matches in a career that should have lasted much longer, and he is certainly a contender for best scrumhalf of all time.
Also a contender for the greatest scrumhalf of all time is Gareth Edwards. Playing 53 times for Wales, he scored 20 tries and was an inspirational leader in the glory days of Wales (which are now hard to remember).
He is not a top try scorer. The top try scorer for France is Serge Blanco, with 38 tries. Between March 2019 and September 2023, Dupont scored only 13 tries for France.
But when it comes to players who are currently playing, there is no player who has more of an impact on a rugby match than Antoine Dupont.
The lovers of Sevens will agree that he dominated the Sevens at the Olympics even when he wasn’t playing, and he was certainly an important factor in winning the gold medal for France.
Last week in the Six Nations, he controlled the match so much that the well-worn title of “Little General” came to mind.
Granted, France—the strongest team in the Six Nations—was playing Wales, probably the weakest team in the tournament. As many people have commented, “France made good use of the cross kick and the forward pass,” but the presence of Dupont was felt all the time, even when he wasn’t near the ball.
Which is the essence of the magic of Dupont.
This weekend, when France plays England, Dupont faces a tough test. England are unlikely to win. The game might even hinge on whether they can control Dupont (something only the Springboks can truly claim to have done), or will he break out the way he did against Wales last week?
Talking on the podcast The Boks Office, Hanyani Shimange asked the question: who is the greatest player at the moment? Without hesitation, Jean de Villiers and Schalk Burger immediately agreed: Antoine Dupont, they said.
It’s going to be a great match, and the world will be watching Dupont. Is he the greatest player at the moment? We’ll find out on Saturday at Twickenham.
Pictured above: Antoine Dupont.
Source: @FranceRugby
