How master Dupont proved the difference

There were so many stunning elements of Antoine Dupont’s masterclass at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that you would be hard pushed to pick just one standout moment. If clever kicking is your thing, either of Dupont’s two outrageous 50:22s or a plethora of superb box-kicks off both feet would be in the running. If you’re more of a breakdown aficionado, four turnovers would certainly float your boat, or if you like a good old-fashioned charge down, the gifted Toulouse scrum-half came up with two important interventions. Then there were the six defenders beaten, the most out of any of the 46 players on show.

For us, though, what best summed up one of the most complete performances we have ever had the pleasure of witnessing live, was Dupont finding himself in the thick of a Leinster maul before he brilliantly forced what was a crucial turnover in the 52nd minute.

He might wear ‘9’ on his jersey, but the manner in which he orchestrated Leinster’s downfall was a reminder that when it comes to truly special players like Dupont, the number on their back is irrelevant.

At times, the Toulouse captain plays as an auxiliary flanker, with his low centre of gravity, allied with his strength for someone of his stature, making it extremely tough to shift him once he locks himself into the jackal position at the breakdown. His time with the France Sevens squad ahead of their home Olympics looks to have helped in that aspect of his game.

In the lead up, so much of the discourse had centred around Dupont and how Leinster would go about nullifying his attacking threat, and while Leo Cullen’s side did so to a certain extent, the French star was still the game’s greatest influence.

At 27, he is only now coming into the prime of his career, which is great for the neutral and frightening for the opposition.

From the opening kick-off, Dupont was tidying up loose ball before a few seconds later, he almost created what would have been a stunning try for Juan Cruz Mallia, until Jamison Gibson-Park produced an excellent last-ditch tackle into touch on his opposite number.

On form, Gibson-Park might be the second best scrum-half in the world. But when it comes to Dupont, he is operating on another level, perhaps from anything we have ever seen.

Dupont is a nightmare to come up against in more ways than one, and as he looked to lay down an early marker in his battle with Gibson-Park, he managed to force the Leinster ‘9’ to lose control of the ball inside the Toulouse 22 (Image

1), which was a regular occurrence from the men in blue on another day when their clunky attack was again called into question.

Although time seems to stand still whenever Dupont is in possession, he doesn’t give the opposition a second when they are on the ball.

Knowing James Lowe’s huge left boot is a key weapon for Leinster and also fully aware that the in-goal area at Spurs’ stadium is much smaller than usual, Dupont charged down the Leinster winger’s kick (2), which could have led to a Toulouse try coming up to the half-hour mark.

By that stage, Dupont had already supported his half-back partner Romain Ntamack in winning a turnover inside the Toulouse 22 before he showed his own strong jackal ability.

Having initially been stripped in contact by Dan Sheehan, whose footwork and pace for the ensuing break was superb, Dupont turned on the after-burners in an effort to make up for a rare mistake.

Getting himself back into position after Blair Kinghorn just about managed to stop Sheehan short of the line, Dupont saved a certain try for Toulouse, as he was deemed to have survived Jamie Osborne’s clearout, and was duly awarded the penalty (3).

No other scrum-half box-kicks off both feet as effectively as Dupont. Possessing such a unique ability makes it tricky to predict what he is going to do next, which was the case for his first of two brilliant 50:22 kicks in the 33rd minute.

Briefly lifting his head to scan the space in behind, Dupont shaped as if he was going to kick off his left, only to arrow a beautiful strike from inside his own half and into the Leinster 22 (4), meaning Toulouse earned the lineout.

Another great box-kick just after halftime put the pressure back on Leinster before Dupont did something we very rarely see from a scrum-half.

Most 9s have no business being in mauls, yet Dupont isn’t like his peers, which is why his team-mates call him ‘The Martian’.

As Leinster kept up their aggressive approach of turning down shots at goal in favour of going for the corner, the pack got an early shove on, only for Dupont to legally join the maul and wrap himself around Sheehan to win another turnover (5).

He wasn’t finished there.

Two more steals followed – one in the 73rd minute on Rónan Kelleher after Josh van der Flier was unable to blast him off the ball, and another in the last play of normal time when he robbed Van der Flier of possession before withstanding a big double hit from Caelan Doris and Jack Conan.

As Leinster attempted to pile on the pressure 22-15 down in extra-time, Dupont arrowed another sumptuous 50:22 in behind the defence to pin them back again.

He would have had a fifth turnover to his name only Richie Arnold’s reckless clearout on Cian Healy earned the Toulouse lock a red card to overrule Dupont’s latest poach.

A brief moment of confusion followed when it looked as though Ugo Mola was about to replace Dupont with Paul Graou.

But common sense prevailed, which allowed Toulouse’s main man to force Hugo Keenan to carry his inch-perfect box-kick into touch shortly after the first-half of extra time, before he launched a booming clearance kick following Thomas Ramos’ penalty to put his side 28-22 in front.

As if that relentless work load wasn’t enough, take note of which Toulouse player still had the energy, guts and determination to put huge pressure on Ciarán Frawley’s attempted drop-goal at the death.

Had Frawley made that kick, there would have been enough time on the clock for Leinster to have had one last roll of the dice, but the tireless Dupont came flying off the defensive line to do just enough to force the replacement out-half to miss (6).

And with that, it was game over. While Dupont’s vast skill-set is sensational, Saturday showed his ultra-driven mindset to relish the less glamorous side of the game helps set him apart from the rest.

On a day when Toulouse were deserving winners, there was no one more fitting to lift their record sixth Champions Cup than the inspirational Dupont.