'No one is near him at the moment': Aaron Smith names halfback rival as the world's best player right now
All Blacks and Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith has praised France’s Antoine Dupont as the best player in the world right now.
Dupont has been on the rise since ousting Morgan Parra as France’s number one halfback during the 2019 Six Nations and leapfrogging over Baptiste Serin. A breakout campaign in 2020 thrust Dupont into the conversation as the world’s best halfback after he became the first French player to win the Player of the Tournament award.
The Toulouse scrumhalf opened his 2021 campaign with four try assists in a 50-10 rout of Italy, including another highlight reel moment with a no-look pass to set up centre Arthur Vincent.
In response to the official Six Nations page, Smith tagged Dupont in the post writing that he is ‘on another level’ and that he helps Smith improve his own game.
“This guy is on another level!” Smith wrote with admiration.
“No one is near him at the moment. He’s the point of difference for both his club and country. He’s helping me look at parts of my game to improve.”
@Dupont9A this guy is on another level! No one is near him atm. He’s the point of difference for both his Club and country. He’s helping me look at parts of my game to improve #Respect #9Gang
— Aaron Smith (@Te_Nug) February 10, 2021
Antoine Dupont responded to Smith’s praise with a series of blushing emojis and raised hands. Former All Black Lima Sopoaga also replied saying:
“I’d say he’s watching a fair few clips of you bro, but man is proper balling alright.”
The two halfbacks have only squared off at international level once, on the 2017 end of year tour where the All Blacks played France in Paris.
Antoine Dupont was still only 20-years-old, days away from his 21st birthday and made his first start for France when he stepped onto the field that night. The dynamic halfback flashed his potential making multiple line breaks, and made a claim as the best on field despite France going down 38-18.
Journalist Daniel Schofield of The Telegraph wrote of Dupont’s first start for France:
“France, however, restored some dignity in the second half, inspired by scrum-half Antoine Dupont, who on his first start ran Barrett very close as the best player on the pitch.”
Dupont missed the following year’s tour of New Zealand in June of 2018 and hasn’t had the chance to play the All Blacks since.
The two may face off again if 2021’s November schedule goes ahead, where the All Blacks are scheduled to play France on their end-of-year tour.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments