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Exceptional Antoine Dupont was not the best scrumhalf in the Six Nations
Antoine Dupont has again earned himself plaudits left, right and centre for his exceptional performances throughout France’s Grand Slam Six Nations campaign, captaining Les Blues to their first title since 2010 – and it’s certainly hard to argue with any of the praise heaped on the 25-year-old wonder.
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Since the competition’s final round, Dupont has been named one of three players – alongside Gregory Alldritt and Josh van der Flier – contending for the official title of the Six Nations Player of the Championship and while it would take a brave man to bet against Le Ministre de L’Interieur taking home the gong for a second time following his triumph in 2020, it’s worth noting that at least from a statistical point of view, Dupont wasn’t the best performing scrumhalf in the competition, let alone the best player.
With the Six Nations coming to an end over the weekend, so too has the inaugural competition of ASX Sports’ Fantasy Rugby. From Round 1, users have been able to invest in the players they think will produce the most dividends (or points) in any given match and while there were always going to be a few obvious standouts throughout the five rounds of action, some of the top performers may come as a surprise to even the most astute of investors.
Five of the six competing nations are represented in the ASX Sport Fantasy Rugby Six Nations Team of the Tournament with the title-winners boasting five inclusions in the chosen XV – which is based entirely on dividends earned throughout the competition.
In the front row, France’s Cyril Baille and England’s Kyle Sinkler have earned the coveted propping spots alongside Irish hooker Dan Sheehan while Italy’s loosehead Danilo Fischetti narrowly misses out.
Tadhg Beirne and Maro Itoje have claimed top honours in the second row but it’s an all-continental affair in the loosies with Anthony Jelonch the top-performing No 6 and the Italian duo of Michele Lamaro and Toa Halafihi rounding out the forwards.
Despite Dupont’s heroics throughout the tournament, he has narrowly missed out to Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park as the top scrumhalf of the competition. Gibson-Park’s $112 worth of dividends earned over his five matches in the No 9 jersey placed him as the second-best performing player overall while Dupont ($98) and Scotland’s Ali Price ($85) both found themselves in the top 10 players overall.
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The top performer throughout the competition has also unsurprisingly landed himself a spot in the Team of the Tournament in the No 10 jersey: England’s Marcus Smith. Smith raked in a mammoth $143 worth of dividends putting him well clear of the second-place Gibson-Park. With England scoring just eight tries in their five games, the boot of Smith was a crucial points-earner for Eddie Jones’ men – and that’s reflected in his massive takings for the competition.
Surprisingly, the second-top flyhalf, Johnny Sexton, managed a relatively meagre $64, making him the 20th-best points-earner overall.
There were plenty of strong performers in the midfield this year but it’s the French pairing of Jonathan Danty and Gael Fickou who excelled. While inside centres struggled to record points (Danty’s $54 fell well short of the top 20 performers), there was huge competition at No 13 with Fickou narrowly pipping Owen Watkin and Garry Ringrose, while Josh Adams’ appearance at outside centre against Ireland also made him eligible for the Team of the Tournament in that position.
Unsurprisingly, the outside backs were the best-performing group thanks to their penchant for accumulating line breaks, beaten defenders and tries. Gabine Villiere’s always impressive showings earned him the left wing spot as well as the third-best player overall while it’s his French teammate Damian Penaud who has claimed the right wing, and fifth place overall. At fullback, Scotland captain Stuart Hogg has taken out the honours.
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Despite Wales’ not managing any spots in the XV, they can at least take solace in the fact that Watkin and Adams managed appearances in the top 20 players but it shouldn’t come as a shock that it’s the champion French who boast the most players in that group, thanks to their six men in the Team of the Tournament coupled with Gregory Alldritt narrowly missing out to Halafihi at number 8.
While the Six Nations may be over for another year, there are plenty of competitions to keep savvy investors interested in the weeks and months ahead. The ASX Sports Super Rugby Pacific fantasy competition is well and truly up and running for those with an interest in the Southern Hemisphere while there will be more opportunities to look forward to as the year progresses.
Six Nations ASX Sports Fantasy Rugby Team of the Tournament:
1. Cyril Baille (France) – $68
2. Dan Sheehan (Ireland) – $63
3. Kyle Sinkler (England) – $45
4. Tadgh Beirne (Ireland) – $44
5. Maro Itoje (England) – $46
6. Anthony Jelonch (France) – $93
7. Michele Lamaro (Italy) – $73
8. Toa Halafihi (Italy) – $72
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland) – $112
10. Marcus Smith (England) – $143
11. Gabin Villiere (France) – $110
12. Jonathan Danty (France) – $54
13. Gael Fickou (France) – $82
14. Damian Penaud (France) – $94
15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland) – $63
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Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments