64 Wednesday April 13 2022 | the timesSportRugby union
Prolific in Paris
v Scotland, Feb 19
v Scotland, Aug 19
v Italy, Aug 19
v England, Feb 20
v Italy, Feb 20
v Wales, Oct 20
v Ireland, Oct 20
v Wales, Mar 21
v Scotland, Mar 21
v Argentina, Nov 21
v Georgia, Nov 21
v New Zealand, Nov 21
v Italy, Feb 22
v Ireland, Feb 22
v England, Mar 22W 27-10
W 32-3
W 47-19
W 24-17
W 35-22
W 38-21
W 35-27
W 32-30
L 23-27
W 29-20
W 41-15
W 40-25
W 37-10
W 30-24
W 25-13AA A A A A A A AAATries Try assistsDupont has scored or assisted 18 tries
in 15 home matches for France since
2019 — a run in which they have lost
only once87%
Dupont’s win rate for
club and country in 2021.
He won six of eight games
with France and 20 of 22
with Toulouse89%
His tackle success rate
for France this season
— the highest it has ever
been in a campaign in
which he has played
more than
three TestsFrench phenomenon joins illustrious roll of honour
1976 Mervyn Davies (Wales)
1977 Andy Irvine (Scotland)
1978 Gareth Edwards ( Wales)
1979 JPR Williams (Wales)
1980 Bill Beaumont (England)
1981 Jean-Pierre Rives (France)
1982 Ollie Campbell (Ireland)
1983 Dave Loveridge (New Zealand)
1984 Jim Aitken (Scotland)
1985 Mick Doyle (Ireland coach)
1986 Jonathan Davies (Wales)
1987 David Kirk (New Zealand)
1988 Robert Norster (Wales)
1989 Finlay Calder (Scotland)
1990 Ian McGeechan (Scotland coach)
1991 David Campese (Australia)
1992 Nick Farr-Jones (Australia)
1993 Ben Clarke (England)
1994 Francois Pienaar (South Africa)
1995 Jonah Lomu (New Zealand)
1996 Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand)
1997 Lawrence Dallaglio (England)
1998 Nick Mallett (South Africa coach)1999 Tim Horan (Australia)
2000 Pat Lam (Samoa)
2001 Martin Johnson (England)
2002 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
2003 Martin Johnson (England)
2004 Robert Howley (Wales)
2005 Gareth Thomas (Wasps)
2006 Jason White (Scotland)
2007 Jason Robinson (England)
2008 Shane Williams (Wales)
2009 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
2010 Maggie Alphonsi (England)
2011 Sam Warburton (Wales)
2012 Chris Robshaw (England)
2013 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
2014 Emily Scarratt (England)
2015 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
2016 Eddie Jones (England coach)
2017 Owen Farrell (England)
2018 Johnny Sexton (Ireland)
2019 Siya Kolisi (South Africa)
2020 Rob Baxter (Exeter coach)
2021 Antoine Dupont (France)Every winner of the Pat Marshall Memorial Award for the Rugby Writers’ Club
personality of the year, as voted by members:A
ntoine Dupont arrives in
the “Loges” hospitality
area of Toulouse’s Stade
Municipal and the room
suddenly transforms from
a lazy post-match lounge into a busy
hive.
A leg of Serrano ham sits on the
bar, ready to be carved into thin
slices, and waiters serve glasses of vin
rouge to help patrons wash down
their cheese. Ulster have just beaten
Toulouse in the first leg of the
Heineken Champions Cup round of
16, so the chatter is a little subdued,
until Dupont shuffles in.
Toulouse players, including Romain
Ntamack, Dupont’s fly half for France
and Toulouse, mingle with the VIPs.
Dupont is not tall — 5ft 8in — so is
quickly lost in pockets of people
jostling for his autograph, a picture, or
just a look at him.
The Times has been granted an
audience with the world’s best player.
Voted the Rugby Union Writers’ Club
personality of the year for 2021 he is
the recipient of the Pat Marshall
Memorial Award, named after the
post-war rugby correspondent of the
Daily Express. Since Marshall’s death
in 1975, each year a rugby great has
won the prize in his name, including
the likes of JPR Williams, Jonah
Lomu, Martin Johnson, Brian
O’Driscoll, Siya Kolisi and 2020’s
winner, Rob Baxter, the Exeter Chiefs
director of rugby.
As January’s annual club dinner
and presentation was cancelled
because of the pandemic, the cup has
had to come to Dupont. Everything is
set for our neatly stage-managed slot
to present the trophy, take pictures,
and chat. Then Didier Lacroix, the
Toulouse president, strides across,
grabs Dupont by the arm and takes
him off. If the president wants
his prize asset, then you wait.
Dupont, 25, apologises for
the intervention and, retiring
to a quieter box in the stadium,
he learns more about the
award, not least that he is the
first French winner since
Jean-
Pierre
Rives,
the
Toulouse
flanker, 40
years ago.
“You don’t like
French guys?”
he asks with a
smile, before
reading on.
“Gareth
Edwards... only
once?”
He continues:
“I’m honoured toDupont holds the
Pat Marshall trophy
Main: with FranceHow Dupont turned
on power to become
the best in the world
name on his new trophy, a red stripe
is visible across his cherubic cheek,
from the rough-and-tumble of the
Ulster game. He did not have his best
match. He did assist Ntamack’s try,
but knocked on two key balls at rucks,
and was intercepted by Robert
Baloucoune for his hat-trick try. But
still there were the trademark sudden
eruptions: a flicked pass, a bustling
run. Dupont is rarely contained.
“You can’t let him out of your
sights,” Mike Prendergast, the attack
coach at their Top 14 rivals Racing 92,
says. “If there’s a mistake, a turnover,
the ball shoots out of defence and you
get disjointed — that’s where he
comes into his own.
“Aaron Smith [of New Zealand] is
more of a link player, rapid passer,
and is so precise. Dupont is most
similar to Faf de Klerk [of South
Africa], but he’s stronger in contact.
He’s such an exceptional talent — he’s
a once-in-a-generation nine.”
Dupont has earned the nickname
Ministre de l’Interieur in France, not
for his politics but his support
running lines — those that Marcus
Smith said during the Six Nations he
is trying to copy. To run those,
Dupont has to be extremely fit, so he
does high-intensity sprint training.
“Once there is a dog-leg [in
defence] he has that ability, close-in
footwork and upper-body strength to
cause huge damage,” Prendergast
says. “He reminds me of Chris Ashton
— running those inside lines.” One of
those led him to score a try in the
grand-slam game against England,
supporting the No 8 Grégory Alldritt.
When the slam — and France’s first
Six Nations title since 2010 — was
confirmed, a usually reserved Dupont
cried happy tears on the touchline. “It
was because we’ve seen how hard it is
to win this tournament,” he says. “The
two years before we finished second,
and this year it went our way. When
the referee said the game was finished
there were a lot of emotions.”
Edwards says Dupont is fairly quiet
but he is becoming a fine French
captain. “The big thing now is he’s
won things,” Edwards says. “Antoine
has won the Heineken Cup, Top 14
and Six Nations grand slam in just
over 12 months as captain.”
He wants more, aiming for Toulouse
legend Jérôme Cazalbou’s record of
seven French league titles. He also has
eyes on Edwards’s Six Nations haul. “A
couple of lads asked me after the
England match, ‘How many have you
won?’ ” says Edwards. “When I said,
‘Five,’ they all went, ‘Oooh.’ I said,
‘That’s it, boys, you keep hungry. It’s
important to never be satisfied.’ ”
Dupont is not, and he can’t wait for
France to host the World Cup next
year. “When we saw the stands after
the England game it was wonderful,”
he says. “I can’t imagine what the
atmosphere will be like for the World
Cup. I want to improve every day and
work hard to be ready for it.”
And with that, our time was up.
Dupont asked to keep the trophy for
his year — he may as well get used to
it, as come 2023 he could well be the
winner again.be part of this list,” in clear English,
having learnt the language to
communicate better with referees. “It
was a very special year for Toulouse
and the French team,” he says. “We’ve
won the grand slam now, and last
year it was the European Cup and
Top 14, so it was amazing to be part
of. When you start to win titles you
don’t want to stop, so you work every
day to continue.
“With Toulouse, the relationship
we have with the European Cup is so
special. We were the first to win the
first star, the first to win the fifth star,
and so we want to continue. My real
goal is to win titles, but collective
titles. When you win a grand slam
with all your team-mates, like we did
a few weeks ago, it’s a huge moment.
“If you’re the best player, it’s just
the cherry on the cake.”
Shaun Edwards has seen the
improvements in Dupont’s game first-
hand, as France’s defence coach in- “I’ve coached some outstanding
scrum halves: Matt Dawson, Rob
Howley, Mike Phillips, but he’s the
best athlete I’ve come across,” he says.
Edwards thinks Dupont’s power has
been improved by his former Wasps
colleague Allan Ryan, now head of
strength and conditioning at
Toulouse. “I don’t think the French
players took weights too seriously
before,” Edwards says. “Their
physiques have improved hugely
since Allan went there [in 2019]. It’s
not something you can do in six
weeks, it takes nine months to
develop that incredible power.
“Antoine’s taken his power to a
higher level, as you see him winning
collisions. Like all great players, if you
give him a challenge he rises up to it.”
Dupont’s challenge was to improve
his defence by 10 to 15 per cent.
Edwards has designed a defensive
system to allow Dupont to flourish,
reducing his tackling burden. “I know
from playing league, when you make
25 tackles a game then try to be a
ball-player, it’s bloody difficult, trust
me,” Edwards says. “You need to keep
him fresh for attack, as he’s a pretty
special attacking player.”
While making fewer hits — on
average seven per Test over the
past three seasons — Dupont
is completing more of them; 89
per cent this year for France.
His kicking has improved too;
he now regularly clears the
ball 50 metres to fit France’s
game plan.
It helps that Dupont,
from the village of
Castelnau-
Magnoac in
France’s Haute-
Pyrénées, is built
like a little bull,
with a barrel
chest, popping
biceps and
trunk-like
thighs. As he
reads the
France scrum half tells
Will Kelleher he’s not
satisfied with his golden
year – he wants to lift
the World Cup at home