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'If Dupont wasn't on the planet, we'd say this guy's the best No9'
By Josh Raisey
Being the second-best scrum-half in the world behind Antoine Dupont probably means that in any other era, you would be the best.
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The Frenchman is held in such high regard by his peers that all other No9s can only really strive for the ‘best of the rest’ accolade, as they are competing with one of the greatest players of all time. But that does not detract from the other class acts that are in the game currently in the No9 jersey, as Dan Biggar pointed out recently.
The former Wales captain singled out Ireland and Leinster scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park as the best player in the world at scrum-half behind Dupont recently on The Rugby Pod.
That came off the back of a hat-trick for the 32-year-old at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday against Leicester Tigers in the round of 16 in the Investec Champions Cup.
Though the New Zealand-born halfback is a different player to Dupont and possesses a different skillset, Biggar highlighted the control that he has on games, and how his role has grown since the retirement of Johnny Sexton at fly-half.
“With Johnny [Sexton] retiring,” he said.
“Clearly he was the focal point of everything Leinster and Ireland did. But now you’ve got Jack Crowley at Ireland and you’ve got Ross Byrne at Leinster, who are clearly very experienced, but they probably look to Jamison Gibson-Park a little bit more for direction on the field.
“They probably look to him and say ‘right, what’s the option here?’ Rather than having a Johnny-type figure running the whole ship.
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“For me, what’s more impressive about him – because Leinster play so many attacking phases and they move the ball – it is his error count. His error count is so low. Normally when you’ve got lots of ball and lots of play, you are going to make errors. But for me, he just takes the right decision.
“Taking the short side for his second try at the weekend, just the ability when to go back to James Lowe.
“If Antoine Dupont wasn’t on this planet, then we’d be saying this guy’s the best No9 in the world by a mile.”
I hope you enjoy your 30 pieces of silver Mr Ferris. If you have all the answers to Ulster’s problems. Do your coaching courses and through your hat in the ring. For a man who was such a great Ulsterman Irishman and British Lion. You are hard to listen to atm. You may have your thoughts but we don’t need to hear them before after and during every match you commentate on. Com'on do your courses and we can see how good you are. Anyone can stand and point out the mistakes and problems. It takes men or women to sort them out.
As a Saffer I have to agree that Roigaard is going to be special
Why can’t we just say he’s possibly the second best scrum half in the world? Why must we imagine ADP floating in space without a planet?
And honestly. Who cares who the second best is.
A lot of make believe accolades being dished out lately.
For my money Roigard is the one to likely challenge Dupont for the number one spot eventually, nevermind #2. As good as Gibson-park is, he doesn't have the raw talent and athletic ability that Roigard has to compete with Dupont. Probably the most exciting talent NZ has right now. Shame about the busted knee but he'll be back.
Of course he is. He plays for the best team in the world.
However, he’s hit the cursed age of 32. The dreaded March of time and steady decline into oblivion has begun. 👀
Rugby is fixated on the idea of “the best XYZ”. It’s a bit of fun to have a player of the year etc, but the truth is that if they had a free choice of any player in a given position, top international coaches would pick different players.
The reason is that it’s not a one-dimensional discussion. Your choice of scrum half depends on your game plan, your options at #10, your defensive patterns, your bench strategy etc.
Would either Dupont or Gibson-Park have improved the Boks chances of winning the World Cup? They both have lovely skills, but to be the “best” in a Bok context they would need to prove that they can perform within Rassies attacking and defensive structures, and overall game plan, not to mention embracing the unique Bok culture. Ditto for any other team.
The idea of “the best XYZ” sounds like bar talk to me. These are excellent players, and many of us might short list them for our personal World XVs. But in the end the best tool in your tool box is the one you need for the job at hand.
I think the solution is for Rugbypass to produce and sell trump cards. And the kids can take this to the school yard.
I wouldn’t even dream of risking my faf card. That little sh;thouse is a delight to the senses.
Couldn't make his national team, yet second best in the world. No WC title. That's a big stretch.
No way
It's certainly a convincing statement Frank, but it would carry a bit more weight if you supported it with an alternative pick or a counter argument. Willi Heinz tearing it up for the Crusaders?