Comment by Mike Greenaway
Europe’s rugby writers searched for new superlatives on Friday night after their golden boy, Antoine Dupont, delivered a master class in Paris as woeful Wales perished 43-0.
The Six Nations scribes gushed into their laptops as Dupont scored a try and made three more in a performance which southerners have to admit was pretty darn good.
More than one match report said any lingering debate about the best scrumhalf to have played is over. Many have said, with certainty, that the little French general is the greatest rugby player of all time.
The Welsh might beg to differ on both counts because Gareth Edwards was considered the scrumhalf GOAT in the ’60s and ’70s, and there are clips on the internet to back this up.
Some of his play for Wales and the British and Irish Lions was astonishing, while his try for the Barbarians in the 1973 match against New Zealand continues to be described as the greatest try the world has seen.
People have short memories, and it is part of the human condition to live in the here and now and move on from the past.
Still, Australians will argue the case for George Gregan; New Zealanders will point out Sid Going, Aaron Smith and Justin Marshall; Argentina’s Agustin Pichot was pretty handy.
There are others, but I venture that the aforementioned are some way off Dupont.
You will have noticed with rising blood pressure, dear reader, that I have not mentioned any South Africans. I will, shortly.
But first, I want to explore what makes Dupont exceptional. I watched him closely when he was recently in Durban with Toulouse and again on Friday night.
His best attribute is his uncanny ability to read the game and see where the defence can be exploited.
He spots half-gaps or space at the back long before the other players. He is like cricket’s greatest batsmen. They have time on the ball, and read the delivery a split-second quicker than the others.
Dupont, having spotted a chink in the defence, then has the skill to thread a player through the gap with precise short or long passes. Or he can thrust himself through the gap and offload to the support.
The 28-year-old has that stocky, compact build that gives him a low centre of gravity and explosiveness.
Of course, he is not shy to finish himself, and he seldom completes a game without scoring. This is why he slotted so easily into the France Sevens team last year, when he departed the 15-man game in a post-World Cup sulk.
Dupont felt a lot better when he played an inspirational role in his team winning the Olympic gold.
Add his ability to kick deftly with both feet and defend bravely, and you have the complete package.
Those last two words bring to mind a certain Fourie du Preez, the Springbok successor to the courageous but imperfect Joost van der Westhuizen.
The well-travelled Eddie Jones assisted the Boks at the 2007 World Cup, and described Du Preez as “a genius who makes decisions better than any scrumhalf I have seen”.
Du Preez was brilliant at that World Cup, and his hand on the tiller guided the South Africans to the winner’s podium. In the Boks’ 36-0 hammering of England in a pool game, Du Preez delivered as close to the perfect performance as you can get.
At the 2015 World Cup, it was a moment of brilliance from Du Preez that squeaked the Boks into the semi-finals.
Towards the end of the quarter-final against Wales, they were behind, but that changed when Du Preez conjured a try from nothing.
Du Preez versus Dupont for the title of scrumhalf GOAT will have convincing arguments for both.
You can accuse me of copping out, but a tie seems fair to me.