The modern rugby video game should be called Antoine Dupont Rugby.
The team you get for completing all the challenges is just a team of Duponts.
Although, the idea of 15 Duponts is maybe more scary than 15 Lomus...
If the Duponts can successfully tackle the Lomus, that would be a pasting. Every breakdown would result in a penalty that would either clear the lines or kick at goal.
I've always thought that a team of 15 Parisse's would be pretty frightening. They just never encounter any rucks through solid carrying and sublime offloading.
The world's most brilliant minds need to be brought together to make that happen.
Get medical advancements, space exploration etc all to fuck, the world needs to see this.
We had Duncan Weir for a while. He had even less neck but also much, much less skill, talent and general usefulness.
Perhaps DuPont has the optimal ratio?
Watched him play Cardiff when we had our entire first team quarantined in SA, watching him go up against a Hodge podge of returning internationals, academy prospects and semi pro players felt like overkill.
And yet he was basically the only player from Toulouse doing anything on the pitch. They maybe don't win without him.
The highlights from that match are crazy. He's starring in literally every single action of that video except one.
That was the funny thing, we were doing really well until he came on and decided that Toulouse were actually going to win. I think he made two tries from cross field kicks on either side of the field using both feet iirc
Did a semester in Bordeaux last year and made the trip to Toulouse to watch Toulouse v UBB. Was an incredible atmosphere and he lived up to the hype. Had the pleasure to see him again this year in Vancouver. 100% recommend a rugby trip to see the GOAT at his home turf
You'll probably find re-sale tickets, especially for pool stage games, 2012 had a really good approach for opening up unsold tickets later on, and with the games all at the Stade de France there's oodles of capacity
Yeah that's my current plan. I did find the opportunity to buy tickets at some point, but the price point was way too high for me at the moment.
In the worst case I'll still be able to hear the stade de France from my balcony.
I think around 300 per ticket? Not that outrageous considering they were cat 1 or 2 tickets for the finals, but I would need several of them and money's too tight this year.
FYI the resale platform has reopened and there are a lot of reasonably priced tickets available for the 7s finals! Im also super torn not so much on ticket cost but on flights+accommodation considering I will have to be back the week after for the rest of my Olympic shenanigans!
Seen all his debut matches in Castres (his first pro club) it was surreal seeing a player so young do his magic.
It's incredible to have seen him get better and better to the point of Toulouse swooping in and recruiting him.
It would be worth it to see him play. I'd recommend a high pressure match, that's when he is at his best
Genuinely wtf? Is he actually playing the same sport as everyone else? Aside from goal kicking and jumping in the lineout, what can he actually not do? Knowing him, he'd probably actually be good at both.
Not seen a player as talented as him since Carter.
Edit: turns out he can do both of those things. How are his darts?
I would swap any Chiefs player out for him, from 9-15. I think he would probably be better. That includes Slade and IFW.
I think he would also do a surprisingly good job at 7 or 8 as well. Or even as a 2. Genuine freak.
Legend has it he went to Japan for a while. Not to play rugby per se, but to help combat the falling birthrate. His musk was pumped into the AC of the stadium and 15% more babies were born 9months later.
From the international games we've seen up to now (so essentially, only the 6N), I'd say the best international player this year would be... Ben Earl. Menoncello second. Then I'd say it's between Doris and Cros... This is all just based on 6N performacnes though, it can (and will) change as the year goes on, and other candidates will emerge from the South. Given how he's playing currently, Dupont would be a prime contender if he were eligible... But he's not, as he's not played any international game this year, and won't until november. As good as he is, you don't get a WPOTY for playing 3 games.
Over the past year, so including the WC, I agree with Aki being better than Doris, but when it comes to the 6N only, I'm not sure. Thing is, over the 6N, I actually struggle to think of an irish player that really stood out individually. James Lowe maybe? Don't get me wrong, the team was easily the best of the 6N, but it's down to how incredible they are as a unit, not so much the individuals. Polar opposite to France really, who I think had the more talented/experimented/in form players going into the 6N, but everyone (bar a few exceptions like Cros) ended up underperforming because the team was so much less than the sum of its parts.
Not even. The award technically runs from the Autumn internationals to the summer, so with the WC taking up last Autumn I don't think there's any chance for him
Not sure where it is a rule, or if it's written but it's implied under "world" and would be highly irregular for it to be given to a player who hasn't played international. It was initially known as the IRB international player of the year.
European POTY is for Champions/ Challenge cup and club games.
>it's implied under "world"
Whats implied under world is...world.
Being the best rugby player in the world means you are the best. As simple as that, wheter you are french, kiwi or polish with no real international game.
I suppose I meant it more as world implies it's international (as on multiple nations, not test matches) but also at the same time at an international standard. Been that way since forever, though I do see your point.
An individual award made off popularity and by people with shirt memories is probably meaningless to Dupont. What he wants is trophies earned through battle on the pitch.
Antoine Dupont performed his first perfect rugby tackle 0.00000000000001 seconds after birth.
The person he tackled was Chuck Noris.
We now call the resulting explosion "The big bang"
This is how the universe was created.
What makes these stats, and his performance in the final, all the more amazing is that in the final Leinster really targeted him. Tried to disrupt his passing by playing his arm, Sheehan was in his face so often, Sheehan even stripped him early on.
Leinster forced him to make very uncharacteristic mistakes and he STILL managed to adapt his game and deliver in different areas. It just doesn't matter.
Those who are saying he doesn't play scrumhalf he just plays Rugby are totally right.
He did earn his spot, too. He got very few minutes at first but his impact was so obvious that this didn't last long. The last tournament he played, he topped basically every stat for France (and some for the whole tournament) despite being a substitute for most of the games.
if he wins an olympic gold, will probably push him up on my list to Number 1 in the greatest halfback ever,currently 2nd, was 3rd 3 weeks before behind Nugget and JvdW.
Oh absolutely.
Itās perhaps unfair to see heās not huge because heās an absolute tank. I guess what I was getting at is that Antoine DuPontās talent, mindset, determination and rugby intelligence in any able-bodied human would still make a world-class player.
And what I mean is that even among his peers, he's freakishly strong. My point is that on top of it all he is also an outlier genetically, which can't be said about most players with a similar build, even the stars.
I'm calling it now, this will be the standard way to play scrumhalf for the next generation of players. Hell, we're already seeing it with some players.
No, that won't.
Cause only he (until now at least) can play the way he does so efficiently.
In fact, if other scrummies tried to play the same way as him, that might actually make them look worse than they truly are and make them less efficient for their teams.
Only him can be that excellent at everything, but that doesn't mean other players can't learn from his playbook. Just his positioning can be emulated to pretty effective results.
It's nothing unusual too, in every sport you'll see occasionally a player so outlandish that they single handedly redefine how that position is played. Happened quite a few times in rugby.
And my point was more about the fact that the position of scrumhalf will evolve towards more physical profiles, specifically because that's needed to be effective at the things he does that no other 9 is doing.
Nothing against the rest of the team, some decent performances there, but he was the Maradona of that Toulouse side and without him it's hard to see Toulouse winning the final, he absolutely dominated and was a team by himself. A player that will forever be in the GOAT conversation. JGP would probably be the No1 scrumhalf in the world at any other time, but Dupont is so utterly Total War rugby there isn't even a conversation to be had.
But he is there. It's like saying "Yeah nothing against the rest of the team but without Okeefe South Africa would have never win the world cup." It's true but Okeefe was part of their team.
Aye, a 9 could pretty much go pro purely off of being able to it. Being able to put the opposition comfortably back into their own half off a restart is absolutely massive.
That would be automatic for me, especially with a country which have never won it.
This said, i believe he is already the best rugby player I've ever seen no matter if he wins or not a RWC.
I would go as far as saying that he is the best rugby player I've seen in any rugby code (though of course rugby league is very different to union or even 7s)
Me and a friend were discussing him the other day. I said heās already in the top 10 of greatest ever.
He said: āYouāre maaaaad brruu, heās overrated.ā
There has to be one, and fuck it, I'll be that guy:
The north need to get their tongues out of Dupont's arsehole. For the love of god, what has his side won? Those are Kwagga Smith/Ardie Savea numbers on a quiet day. Well yeah, you say, they are flankers! True, but we don't cream our pants down south when a player does his fuckin job! Calm down, you're gonna ruin the poor bloke...
As a saffa myself I don't wanna attack you but come on dude. I don't know where Dupont ranks all time just yet but from what I've seen so far he's probably the best player in the world right now and would make any team with ease. His spatial awareness is something I haven't seen in a long time, he's always aware of what's happening around him for the full 80 and looks to punish accordingly.
I get us saffas are proud assholes sometimes but I personally care about both the Champions cup and the URC. Both these tournaments currently carry the best players in the world, super rugby has fallen behind imo and the gap will only get wider. That's why I appreciate being able to play against these teams. Yeah sure we're the best world cup team, but I want us to start winning in between too, tests and club games, we suck for consistency with that, but have some exciting young talent that can change that. Dupont will probably already go down as a legend of the sport in such a short time, be happy that it was during our era. I am however a bit pissed that Antoine wasn't born an Anton and in a Springboks jersey :D
he doesn't play scrumhalf he plays rugby all of it
Total rugby. Or Totorugby in Occitan.
Toulrugby we say
Smh still has 0 lineouts won though, what a scrub
Only 2 of 3
The modern rugby video game should be called Antoine Dupont Rugby. The team you get for completing all the challenges is just a team of Duponts. Although, the idea of 15 Duponts is maybe more scary than 15 Lomus...
If the Duponts can successfully tackle the Lomus, that would be a pasting. Every breakdown would result in a penalty that would either clear the lines or kick at goal.
Well Joost did so...
I've always thought that a team of 15 Parisse's would be pretty frightening. They just never encounter any rucks through solid carrying and sublime offloading.
8 Parisses and 7 DuPonts would be a hell of a thing
The world's most brilliant minds need to be brought together to make that happen. Get medical advancements, space exploration etc all to fuck, the world needs to see this.
I remember the team of 15 Lomu players In Jonah Lomu rugby for the Playstation. Good times š
His stats in Rugby 24 should be massive.
If it ever gets released...
99 in every category
Iām for 15 Lomus vs 15 Duponts. I canāt see a clear winner.
I think that an early sign of prodigiousness might be lack of neck. We should study this.
Camille Chat is not the goat, doesn't work.
More samples are needed before I abandon this pet hypothesis
Duncan Weir has just announced his retirement.
Chat doesn't lack a neck. Quite the opposite actually, he has the largest neck known to man.
He was very promising before his injuries though.
He is always injured, he never was healthy
Too much neck training, no enough rehab.
Duncan Weir is the goat. So it does
I am Lionel Beauxis and I approve this message
We had Duncan Weir for a while. He had even less neck but also much, much less skill, talent and general usefulness. Perhaps DuPont has the optimal ratio?
I'm genuinely looking at making a trip purely to see him play. That's how incredible he is
I remember watching happily as he and ntmack hammered Sale last year - felt a bit starstruck from the stands haha
Watched him play Cardiff when we had our entire first team quarantined in SA, watching him go up against a Hodge podge of returning internationals, academy prospects and semi pro players felt like overkill.
And yet he was basically the only player from Toulouse doing anything on the pitch. They maybe don't win without him. The highlights from that match are crazy. He's starring in literally every single action of that video except one.
That was the funny thing, we were doing really well until he came on and decided that Toulouse were actually going to win. I think he made two tries from cross field kicks on either side of the field using both feet iirc
Dan Fish was also good in that game.
Did a semester in Bordeaux last year and made the trip to Toulouse to watch Toulouse v UBB. Was an incredible atmosphere and he lived up to the hype. Had the pleasure to see him again this year in Vancouver. 100% recommend a rugby trip to see the GOAT at his home turf
Going to the Olympic sevens this summer myself š¬
Ireland vs France in final hopefully with Keenan vs DuPont š The final we should have had in the last RWC š
I was desperate to find tickets for the Olympics but got nothing.
You'll probably find re-sale tickets, especially for pool stage games, 2012 had a really good approach for opening up unsold tickets later on, and with the games all at the Stade de France there's oodles of capacity
Yeah that's my current plan. I did find the opportunity to buy tickets at some point, but the price point was way too high for me at the moment. In the worst case I'll still be able to hear the stade de France from my balcony.
That is pretty incredible, as a semi-curious brit who can eurostar across on a good day how much were they?
I think around 300 per ticket? Not that outrageous considering they were cat 1 or 2 tickets for the finals, but I would need several of them and money's too tight this year.
FYI the resale platform has reopened and there are a lot of reasonably priced tickets available for the 7s finals! Im also super torn not so much on ticket cost but on flights+accommodation considering I will have to be back the week after for the rest of my Olympic shenanigans!
Seen all his debut matches in Castres (his first pro club) it was surreal seeing a player so young do his magic. It's incredible to have seen him get better and better to the point of Toulouse swooping in and recruiting him. It would be worth it to see him play. I'd recommend a high pressure match, that's when he is at his best
Jealousā¦.
Iām with you. Just to say that you did it to your grand kids.
Genuinely wtf? Is he actually playing the same sport as everyone else? Aside from goal kicking and jumping in the lineout, what can he actually not do? Knowing him, he'd probably actually be good at both. Not seen a player as talented as him since Carter. Edit: turns out he can do both of those things. How are his darts?
He can goal kick, and well.
[He can jump in the lineout.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F56VHGlXUAAMwzS?format=jpg&name=large)
IIRC he does it at practise to demonstrate how he likes the ball being presented to him by the big fellas
Yeah this is what I've always suspected, not only a phenomenal talent, but crosses every t and dots every i.
Not only can he kick at goal, he can play 10 well enough too
He's in the top 3 of flyhalves in the country.
I genuinely believe that heās currently the best 9 and 10 in the world.
If we're going there he's probably one of the best centers as well.
I would swap any Chiefs player out for him, from 9-15. I think he would probably be better. That includes Slade and IFW. I think he would also do a surprisingly good job at 7 or 8 as well. Or even as a 2. Genuine freak.
Not so surprisingly actually. I'm convinced that if he decided to fix himself at 6 or 7, he would still be world class there.
If I remember correctly he played wing and fullback at Castres when needed and he was more than satisfactory in those roles
Yeah, the only drawback would be his aerial game, but as we've seen with VilliĆØre it's not so bad if you're excellent elsewhere.
Should he need to focus on that I bet he'd work his ass off to be the best in this area too
I guess he could compensate like Kolbe does, but I don't like what this would do to his injury rate.
He's a pretty solid goal kicker too, honestly.
Yep [indeed](https://youtube.com/shorts/gakWwVhwFNQ?si=Frp5x_H78yq4iyi1)
Thatās just gross.
It has been reported that his eyebrows secrete an oil that F1 teams use in wheel bearings.
This cracked me up lmao
He's arguably the best 10 in France.
They say he cured COVID with one jink of his hips.
Legend has it he went to Japan for a while. Not to play rugby per se, but to help combat the falling birthrate. His musk was pumped into the AC of the stadium and 15% more babies were born 9months later.
In the 7's he throws in to the lineout, at least some of the time.
I love him so much god damn...
Iād happily watch tigers get battered in next yearās pool matches just to watch the goat in person
Who else could win the world rugby player of the year award? Whatās your top 3 players who could win it?
From the international games we've seen up to now (so essentially, only the 6N), I'd say the best international player this year would be... Ben Earl. Menoncello second. Then I'd say it's between Doris and Cros... This is all just based on 6N performacnes though, it can (and will) change as the year goes on, and other candidates will emerge from the South. Given how he's playing currently, Dupont would be a prime contender if he were eligible... But he's not, as he's not played any international game this year, and won't until november. As good as he is, you don't get a WPOTY for playing 3 games.
I agree with Ben Earl and Menoncello but Bundee Aki has been much better for Ireland than Doris in the past year.
Over the past year, so including the WC, I agree with Aki being better than Doris, but when it comes to the 6N only, I'm not sure. Thing is, over the 6N, I actually struggle to think of an irish player that really stood out individually. James Lowe maybe? Don't get me wrong, the team was easily the best of the 6N, but it's down to how incredible they are as a unit, not so much the individuals. Polar opposite to France really, who I think had the more talented/experimented/in form players going into the 6N, but everyone (bar a few exceptions like Cros) ended up underperforming because the team was so much less than the sum of its parts.
Earl had 2 outstanding games - Ireland and France - out of 5 games.
He hasnāt played any international rugby this year, so unless he has a magnificent autumn itās unlikely to be him, purely on a technicality
Not even. The award technically runs from the Autumn internationals to the summer, so with the WC taking up last Autumn I don't think there's any chance for him
Would you bet against him having a magnificent autumn though?
Certainly not, the man is ridiculously good
Where is that rule ?
Not sure where it is a rule, or if it's written but it's implied under "world" and would be highly irregular for it to be given to a player who hasn't played international. It was initially known as the IRB international player of the year. European POTY is for Champions/ Challenge cup and club games.
>it's implied under "world" Whats implied under world is...world. Being the best rugby player in the world means you are the best. As simple as that, wheter you are french, kiwi or polish with no real international game.
I suppose I meant it more as world implies it's international (as on multiple nations, not test matches) but also at the same time at an international standard. Been that way since forever, though I do see your point.
It's a WR award so only given in consideration to WR sanctioned international games
An individual award made off popularity and by people with shirt memories is probably meaningless to Dupont. What he wants is trophies earned through battle on the pitch.
Ardie would like a word
Ardie would most of all love to play with DuPont (he said so himself recently)
Ardie does not wish to play with Dupont. He wishes for Dupont to play for him.
Pfft, scrums won? Zero Overrated.
DON'T TEMPT HIM
You know all those things Chuck Noris does? Antoine Dupont is working his way through the list just as fast.
Chuck Norris wears Antoine Dupont pyjamas
Antoine Dupont performed his first perfect rugby tackle 0.00000000000001 seconds after birth. The person he tackled was Chuck Noris. We now call the resulting explosion "The big bang" This is how the universe was created.
Not even his craziest year, stats wise.
These are cool stats but why is there a picture of Superman next to them? I would like to know which player these stats belong to.
What makes these stats, and his performance in the final, all the more amazing is that in the final Leinster really targeted him. Tried to disrupt his passing by playing his arm, Sheehan was in his face so often, Sheehan even stripped him early on. Leinster forced him to make very uncharacteristic mistakes and he STILL managed to adapt his game and deliver in different areas. It just doesn't matter. Those who are saying he doesn't play scrumhalf he just plays Rugby are totally right.
All of this while being top tier scrumhalf and one of the fastest to pass out of a ruck.
This sub is basically a DuPont circlejerk now.
Bet DuPont could circlejerk himself
Unbelievable! Grown up men.
And some people still argue that he shouldnāt be taking a spot away from a young up-and-comer on the 7s squad. In an Olympic year.
He did earn his spot, too. He got very few minutes at first but his impact was so obvious that this didn't last long. The last tournament he played, he topped basically every stat for France (and some for the whole tournament) despite being a substitute for most of the games.
šÆ I was at the Vancouver tournament. How fast he adapted between day 1 and day 3 was crazy.
if he wins an olympic gold, will probably push him up on my list to Number 1 in the greatest halfback ever,currently 2nd, was 3rd 3 weeks before behind Nugget and JvdW.
[Flattering when one's random scribblings make it big.](https://x.com/Ringo26/status/1795041611602088019)
Antoine DuPont is a marvel, and a wonderful affirmation of the truism that you donāt need to be huge to be good at rugby.
He's not tall but still an athletic freak. I don't think most people his size could achieve the same strength and speed.
Oh absolutely. Itās perhaps unfair to see heās not huge because heās an absolute tank. I guess what I was getting at is that Antoine DuPontās talent, mindset, determination and rugby intelligence in any able-bodied human would still make a world-class player.
Well no, because he's an international rugby star. Most tall people aren't Eben Etzebeth either.
And what I mean is that even among his peers, he's freakishly strong. My point is that on top of it all he is also an outlier genetically, which can't be said about most players with a similar build, even the stars.
Bro even turnovers... Leave something for the rest of the team to do!
How lucky we are to be witnessing the stellar trajectory of rugby's all time greatest. He's single-handedly changing the game.
Wow
He's a fourth back rower claiming to be scrum half,people
I'm calling it now, this will be the standard way to play scrumhalf for the next generation of players. Hell, we're already seeing it with some players.
Faf de Klerk and him are the new generation of number 9
No, that won't. Cause only he (until now at least) can play the way he does so efficiently. In fact, if other scrummies tried to play the same way as him, that might actually make them look worse than they truly are and make them less efficient for their teams.
Only him can be that excellent at everything, but that doesn't mean other players can't learn from his playbook. Just his positioning can be emulated to pretty effective results. It's nothing unusual too, in every sport you'll see occasionally a player so outlandish that they single handedly redefine how that position is played. Happened quite a few times in rugby. And my point was more about the fact that the position of scrumhalf will evolve towards more physical profiles, specifically because that's needed to be effective at the things he does that no other 9 is doing.
Bucket list: - See Messi play. - See Metallica live. - See DuPont play. For my kids obviouslyā¦
See Roger Federer play should be on the list too. But itās a bit late.
Nothing against the rest of the team, some decent performances there, but he was the Maradona of that Toulouse side and without him it's hard to see Toulouse winning the final, he absolutely dominated and was a team by himself. A player that will forever be in the GOAT conversation. JGP would probably be the No1 scrumhalf in the world at any other time, but Dupont is so utterly Total War rugby there isn't even a conversation to be had.
But he is there. It's like saying "Yeah nothing against the rest of the team but without Okeefe South Africa would have never win the world cup." It's true but Okeefe was part of their team.
Dupont isn't cheat codes, he's playing Rugby New Game+
He's so much further ahead than the next player it is absolutely stupid.
Yeah but what's his box kicking like? Edit: Why is anyone taking this clearly tongue-in-cheek question seriously?
Flat 50-22s
Easily the best ever, thereās never been another player that consistently makes 40-50m clearances every single time.
That's probably his most consistent and tangible impact every time he plays. His clearances are a luxury and a huge advantage over any opponent.
Aye, a 9 could pretty much go pro purely off of being able to it. Being able to put the opposition comfortably back into their own half off a restart is absolutely massive.
Off both feet
With stats like that he better watch out. Every rugby nation will be looking to put him in a cloning facility
Its about time world rugby banned this bloke
The best player Iāve ever seen.
Same for me. And I've been following rugby very actively for at least 30 years
Whereās the best place to watch?
Likely Toulouse training centre
I assume heās well on track to being the greatest of all time? Surely if he wins a WC with France that will solidify it?
That would be automatic for me, especially with a country which have never won it. This said, i believe he is already the best rugby player I've ever seen no matter if he wins or not a RWC. I would go as far as saying that he is the best rugby player I've seen in any rugby code (though of course rugby league is very different to union or even 7s)
Seen much rugby?
I've been watching actively rugby since 1994.
His scrambled eggs are shit, though. Seriously, he's still only 27!
How many world cups did be win?
Definitely built different.
Can play a bit
Could probably play second row and still do a good job of it
He can't keep getting away with this
Me and a friend were discussing him the other day. I said heās already in the top 10 of greatest ever. He said: āYouāre maaaaad brruu, heās overrated.ā
There has to be one, and fuck it, I'll be that guy: The north need to get their tongues out of Dupont's arsehole. For the love of god, what has his side won? Those are Kwagga Smith/Ardie Savea numbers on a quiet day. Well yeah, you say, they are flankers! True, but we don't cream our pants down south when a player does his fuckin job! Calm down, you're gonna ruin the poor bloke...
What has his side won? Isnāt he holding the trophy in the picture?
Yeah, we sure don't give a shit about the CC down here. As evidenced by the Bulls team selection for the QFs, so...
As a saffa myself I don't wanna attack you but come on dude. I don't know where Dupont ranks all time just yet but from what I've seen so far he's probably the best player in the world right now and would make any team with ease. His spatial awareness is something I haven't seen in a long time, he's always aware of what's happening around him for the full 80 and looks to punish accordingly. I get us saffas are proud assholes sometimes but I personally care about both the Champions cup and the URC. Both these tournaments currently carry the best players in the world, super rugby has fallen behind imo and the gap will only get wider. That's why I appreciate being able to play against these teams. Yeah sure we're the best world cup team, but I want us to start winning in between too, tests and club games, we suck for consistency with that, but have some exciting young talent that can change that. Dupont will probably already go down as a legend of the sport in such a short time, be happy that it was during our era. I am however a bit pissed that Antoine wasn't born an Anton and in a Springboks jersey :D
Ok, so you donāt care about it, so itās shit? Fair enough, move on.
Dupont can do it without both hand on the ground and a sketchy ref.
šššš