Romain Ntamack is like Pippen to Dupont's Jordan
Every superhero has a sidekick, an underrated partner in crime who without the hero is a lesser version of themselves.
For France’s Antoine Dupoint, that man is Romain Ntamack, a star in his own right who would be considered one of the top three No 10s in the world.
The 24-year-old has probably been the number one in the position at some point over the last three years.
The pair have formed an innate understanding of each other after years at Toulouse that has seen them win league titles in the Top 14 and European crowns.
But Ntamack does not get the same recognition as Dupont, such is the No 9’s talent, he is so good he overshadows one of the best players in the world.
Losing their flyhalf to an ACL injury on the eve of the Rugby World Cup is nothing short of a disaster, no two ways about it.
They have depth at the position but players like Matthieu Jalibert cannot replicate the partnership that Dupont and Ntamack have forged.
When France demolished the All Blacks in Paris in late 2021, it was Ntamack who took advantage of Dupont’s platform and made the biggest plays.
In the first minute they ran a short side raid utilising Dupont’s playmaking around the ruck and were able to break open New Zealand.
The speed of the recycle put the All Blacks’ ruck defence on the back foot, with Sam Cane (7), Aaron Smith (9) and Sam Whitelock (5) all stuck too close.
France used one lead runner, Cyril Baille (1), to hold the ruck defence. His line also drew a bad read from Akira Ioane (6) who closed in from the outside.
Cane (7) was caught taking the same man as Ioane, highlighting a complete breakdown in communication between the backrowers.
Dupont’s pass was absolutely perfect, almost clipping Baille’s shoulder. Out-of-the-hand it looked certain to be destined for the lead runner, only to fly past into the hands of Ntamack (10) out the back.
The French flyhalf sold the dummy to the drifting winger George Bridge and ripped off a massive line break.
France open the scoring 7-0 off the back of the territory gained by Ntamack’s long break.
When they next travelled down into New Zealand’s territory they produced the exact same screen play with similar results.
With the All Blacks on the back foot, Dupont used winger Gabin Villiere (11) to plow into the retreating defence and build more pressure.
Villiere timed his run perfectly and flew into the All Blacks’ troubled line, chewing off another 5-10 metres in contact.
The powerful carry successfully isolated Richie Mo’unga the forwards in desperate need to get around the corner to help him.
Ntamack (10) had to pull up and reset after initially heading towards the forming ruck to clean.
Realising the opportunity, he could see Mo’unga call for help as the All Blacks struggled to fold around the corner and reload the line.
Uini Atonio (3) moved into position to run the same decoy line as before.
As the play developed, Atonio’s line created a ‘chip block’ on Ardie Savea (8) with slight contact, further separating Mo’unga from any inside help.
Savea’s momentum stopped momentarily while Mo’unga was forced to push out, creating a widened gap in the process.
With Mo’unga isolated and hips turned towards the sideline, Ntamack beat the All Black No 10 with the big right foot step to find the gap inside.
The simple scheme orchestrated by Dupont and Ntamack resulted in two tries in the first fifteen minutes.
The flyhalf came up with two line breaks, on both occasions exposing All Black loose forwards as his running game flourished.
A third line break by Ntamack coming off a tap back by Gael Fickou from a Dupont cross-field kick led to France’s third try.
After the All Blacks mounted a comeback and got within two points, it was Ntamack who sparked an incredible counter-attack coming out his in-goal area.
It was the game’s pivotal moment, with the break leading to three points for France after Savea was sin-binned an indiscretion defending his line.
It’s why we love this game, it’s why we love watching France… 🤩#FRAvNZL #AutumnNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/TV6bQFLf4O
— Summer Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 20, 2021
France’s halves were on fire with Dupont providing the alley-oops for Ntamack to bring home with the slam dunks.
What they did against the All Blacks on that night in 2021, have been replicated against others.
So many tries that either Dupont or Ntamack have scored over this era have been constructed by the other.
Which is why the connection they have is irreplaceable, and the loss of Ntamack could cost France the ultimate prize.
Ntamack is Pippen to Dupont’s Jordan, and Michael never won any titles without Scottie.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments