Antoine Dupont, February 6, 2021 in Rome.
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Insidefoto / Sipa USA / SIPA
Antoine Dupont was again dazzling against Italy last weekend.
Compliments do not only come from France, but also from abroad.
In England or South Africa, Dupont is already considered the best player in the world.
When we come to Antoine Dupont, and we come quite quickly at the moment, superlatives are almost a little embarrassing.
Randomly, Cyril Baille, the friend of Stade Toulousain.
“A Martian, our own alien”.
"He has superpowers, we could compare him to Messi or Maradona without sending him too many flowers", adds on RMC Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, the last big nine of the Blues.
A good fire, well rosy when we have not seen the tail of a trophy in the France team for ten years?
Not even.
It seems that the whole world has flashed on the little bull of Lannemazan.
"The guy is on another planet"
Instead, read the dubbing of one who is considered by many to be THE benchmark for the scrum half position.
Aaron Smith, 92 caps with the Blacks, a trifle, took the trouble to open twitter before going to bed on Wednesday to answer the $ 100,000 question from the community manager of the VI Nations Tournament: "Who is the best player?" of the world, according to you?
".
Response from Smith: “Antoine Dupont!
The guy is on another planet, no one comes near him today.
He's the one who makes all the difference for his club and his country.
He helps me to watch certain aspects of my game to improve myself ”.
We would almost blush, say so.
No because when Jérôme Kaino had sold the wick in December in a British podcast - "I think that for a year, a year and a half, Antoine Dupont is the best 9 on the planet, Every time he plays, he is the best boy in the field ”- we had obviously swelled the chest with blue white red pride, then the reason came back to us:“ Well, ok, the guy won two or three things in his life with the Blacks, he knows how to what he's talking about, but he's playing in Toulouse, so not a great goal, let's move on ”.
The #GuinnessSixNations 'Player Of The Round' for round 1 is ... 🥁 @ Dupont9A!
Pure class 👏 pic.twitter.com/xVcptle84t
- Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 9, 2021
The English swear by him
To be sure, since the compliments are piling up, we are asking Benjamin Kayser.
The former French international, host of said podcast in the language of the Spice Girls and consultant for France TV.
He swears to us that he did not pay a blow to the New Zealand world champion on the sly after the show: “When Jérôme Kaino tells me about it during the French Rugby Podcast, I'm a little on the ass.
I expected it, but not at this point.
He told me "he can do everything, I've never seen a player like this".
Kaino is 1000 times humility so he would never have said that if he didn't mean it ”.
Now a student at Oxford, Kayser is in a good position to tell the story of the admiration aroused by our national Antwwwwwoine Dyyyyupont at the end of the Eurostar.
“The English get excited about him all the time.
They will say to you "Oh, there, there you have two great second lines, oh, there, where it comes from this little rear", they do not necessarily know our captain [Charles Ollivon] but Dupont, it's Antoine Dupont, they know his name.
With Ntamack, it's almost an institutional brand, a “brand name” ”.
We even surprised our enemies still commenting on twitter on the formidable test of Toinou against Bordeaux-Bègles like vulgar addicts of the mole 14.
Who has the most impact on the game?
What do we say in South Africa, homeland of Cheslin Kolbe, the “real” best player in the world in title, according to official distinctions?
Liam Del Carme, rugby pen for The
Times
, the country's leading daily, replies:
“Dupont is not only the best scrum half there is, but arguably the player with the most impact in the world on the game. He is a dynamic player who manages to find loopholes in more defenses. more stifling.
The other nines like Smith or De Klerk manage to keep up with the pace of the match and excel in the tactical structure of their team, but Dupont decides what will happen.
He is able to shine even if you put him with guys who have never played rugby in their life!
".
Our colleague is so on the cleat that we push the conversation a little: beyond the obvious qualities of Dupont (but how does he manage to be ALL THE TIME the first to support when we break the opposing line?) Since when does he not? hadn't he swooned over a fellow from our place?
" Good question.
For a while I believed in Fofana, but the wounds got the better of him.
Michalak?
I have seen good matches and bad matches.
Dominici was something but over time, I hadn't been so seduced since Sella and Blanco!
"
"There is something going on around this boy"
The prehistory of French rugby, downright.
Liam is going a little hard, according to Benjamin Kayser.
“A guy like Christophe Dominici, peace to his soul, has always been recognized because he had what we love in the French, this little romantic, flamboyant side.
There was Dusautoir too, but it was primarily to pity him, the poor man ”.
Above all, Dusautoir, aka the “black destroyer” in his prime, was celebrated for his monstrous tackles and fighting skills.
Dupont, on the contrary, it's rugby panache, creativity, a little Asterix Le Gaulois side in the midst of giants.
"We want to feast right now, and sport must play its role of entertainment, of joy," Kayser continues.
Dupont, he represents that: the little guy who breaks everyone's mouth, who produces rugby, who touches the ball.
There is something going on around him, all the more so in a rugby that is looking for super stars, positive guys.
»In the mouth of our South African colleague?
“Dupont is the kind of player rugby needs.
This sport has become robotic, with well-established strategies.
Dupont, he puts individual talent at the center of everything ”.
New demonstration scheduled for Sunday in Dublin traffic.
Be on time.
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