Why Dupont is the best in the world

Handling

Antoine Dupont’s speed of thought is matched by the swiftness of his hands. I remember watching him play for Toulouse and seeing him throw a super-fast, flat, 15-metre pass to put a wing in the corner and thinking, “This guy is special”. In the first round of this Six Nations, I saw him throw a ridiculous offload over his own shoulder for Arthur Vincent to score against Italy and thought, “He’s more than special”. He knows when to raise the tempo of a game and is deadly when France have quick ball.

Kicking game

Unlike so many scrum-halves in the modern game, Dupont is not defined by his kicking ability, though it is certainly not a weakness. If Dupont were English, I believe we would be playing in a different style because his exhilarating, electric contributions would demand the team move away from their kick-heavy, safety-first approach (even if there were signs of progress against Wales). This is a generational talent who is lighting up our sport. England will be desperate to close him down. Expect Maro Itoje and Tom Curry, in particular, to be all over him.

Quick brain

Dupont is the best player in the world right now, and is easily the biggest threat to England today. Key to that is his maturity and speed of thought. The scrum-half is just 24 but plays like a man with 10 years more experience under his belt. There is a fearlessness in his game and the way he is so keen to take players on, allied to the confidence he can pull it off. Finn Russell is the only other player I can think of who has such resolute self-belief, and it makes Dupont supremely dangerous. He makes rugby look as natural as breathing.

Strength and speed

Dupont and Faf de Klerk are changing what we think the ideal scrum-half should look like. Both are small – Dupont is 5ft 8in, half an inch taller than the South African – but have the physique of bodybuilders. That strength means they can break through tackles and are a danger at the breakdown, with Dupont responsible for the game-winning turnover in France’s victory over Ireland. He is rapid, too, using his strength to shrug off would-be tacklers before scooting away from them in broken field. By the time you blink he is gone.