‘He was born to play rugby’: How Dupont took game by storm
Scrum-half was always destined to be a superstar for Les Bleus, writes Ben Coles
We should probably be dialling down the hyperbole given that Antoine Dupont, the France scrum-half, is only 23 years old. Then again, you can only ignore greatness for so long.
The signs have been there for some time that France’s influential No 9 was destined to become one of the world’s best players. He might even be at that stage already. Wales will find out today at the Principality Stadium.
“I often say that he was really born to play this sport,” his coach at Toulouse, Ugo Mola, told
Le Parisien last year. “He is passionate. He has such selfconfidence in his abilities, but also a will to continue to discover, learn and exchange ideas. Antoine has
the calibre of champions. There are the teams with Antoine Dupont, and those teams without him.”
England learnt this first-hand in Paris on the opening Sunday, via two moments of brilliance: his assist for Charles Ollivon, with Dupont shape-shifting through a mass of forwards, somehow weaving outside Ben Youngs before delivering the killer pass; and then the moment of jawdropping defence with France backed up near their own posts, Dupont bursting out of the defensive line to clatter Willi Heinz.
“Against England he not only created a brilliant try out of nothing, but he tackled like a crazy guy,” said Benjamin Kayser, the former France hooker. “When he smoked Heinz a few metres out, he basically saved a try on his own. He has huge backing from [France head coach Fabien] Galthie, who really loves him, thinks he is an X-factor type of player. Antoine is proving every doubter wrong, and if you liked him already, proving you were right.”
Dupont’s career has rocketed over the past 18 months. Joining Castres in 2014 from the academy at Auch, his time was spent there battling for a starting spot with Rory Kockott.
By the time the player nicknamed Toto moved to Toulouse in 2017 he had been capped by France, but was joining a club who, despite their proud history, had just crawled to a dismal 12th-place finish in the Top 14. Three years later and Toulouse are French champions, while Dupont is being hailed as one of the best scrum-halves in the game. It is worth remembering that he also spent most of 2018 recovering from an anterior-cruciate ligament rupture.
“It is crazy to see the way he plays, and then hear how old he is,” said Jerome Kaino last summer, before Toulouse defeated Racing 92 to win their 20th league title. “He is a different type of half-back, more like a loose forward slash centre. He is pretty strong for his size, loves to back himself. He will definitely sit up there as one of the best scrum-halves I have played with, just in terms of raw talent and potential.”
The adulation that Dupont has received in France is intriguing. He is not the prototype French scrum-half, box-kicking the rubber off the ball and directing traffic at a steady pace. Less of a petit general, more a tour de force, he barrels his way over for tries, punching above his weight, while throwing flash passes such as the assist for Gregory Alldritt against Italy.
“The first thing to understand is that he has been a dominant player his whole life, his whole youth,” said Kayser. “Sometimes those guys do not deliver on the big stage. He was a No 9 scoring tries from 50 metres out. One of those young guns who you think, ‘Wow, he is too good, this kid. But can he deliver at the highest level?’ Then he arrived in Castres and started tearing it up.”
Facing Wales in Cardiff marks one of the biggest challenges of Dupont’s career. France can win with him in the side, but they absolutely cannot without him. They will need Dupont’s inspiration, his wizardry, once again.
While the majority were in raptures over his match-winning turn against England – L’equipe, famously harsh markers, awarded Dupont a nine out of 10 – his Toulouse and France team-mate Francois Cros appeared unmoved. “It doesn’t surprise me. I know what he is capable of. He does exceptional things every weekend.”