Antoine Dupont

International scrum-halves past and present pay tribute to the France captain – here's what they say about Antoine Dupont.

He gets an offload off a line break and he just finishes. We won that day but I remember thinking, ‘He has some juice and a bit of go about him’. Everything good that happens around that French team seems to be around what he is doing. He’s so powerful and he rarely gets it wrong; if he goes to make a shot and flies out of the line, he always gets man and ball. He looks for those opportunities to run a line and then goes; he always makes good decisions. It’s no secret that I really rate Dupont. I watch his play closely and he has a real impact. At nine, it’s about getting on top of people and that’s the way he thinks as well. He’s got an electric turn of pace and is very strong in the carry with a great sense of anticipation. His skill-set is one of the best out there. The thing that stands out most for me is his athleticism. Dupont is 5ft 8in, give or take, but he has a physical presence, he has proper man-strength whereby he can swat away weak defenders around the fringes of a ruck. As a kicker, he not only has a really accurate kick but he has a really long kick when he needs it.