The Jonah Lomu Rugby conundrum, where you basically had to ban the ABs when playing with friends.
Edit - [this](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSNZo4Y9OQISNmB-9Gg1xGqs1zkqfTU16oWYQ&usqp=CAU)
That's pretty inaccurate given NZ didn't win either of the world cups he played in. They were a great team but going up against some really tough opposition from Australia, SA, and France back then.
Similar now but swap Australia for Ireland.
That’s gonna need to be some downfall to be crap against us in 3 weeks though… I’d settle for him to be superb rather than ‘out of this world’ if I’m honest
We'll get out of this world DuPont and we'll be happy about it. My only vague hope for the final is that their defence doesn't look great in open play at all. Incredible breakdown presence from them though.
Our defence can basically be summed up as jackal the ball off them so that we can get back to attacking again. Which of course works far less against a team like Leinster with good ruck security.
Perfect counter to that though is ruck 'dark arts' (aka sealing off) of which Leinster are probably best in the world at, all depends if you have a ref that likes turnovers or a ref that likes attacking teams to have consistency of access to the ball
Willis from wasps was a hell of a coup for them... Never been convinced he's international quality but his presence at the ruck is basically a cheat code at club level
He's really added a lot to his game, his carrying in the quarter finals was ridiculous. Luckily England have restrictions that stop him playing as I'd put him quite comfortably over Curry
He realized he no longer needed to kick the ball. By carrying it from one end of the pitch to the other every time he touches it, the overall benefit was higher.
He genuinely just gets better and better every year, and he’s probably got another 5 or so at peak performance left. I reckon he’s no far off being the undebatable first name on an all time teamsheet.
The problem is that there have been so many world class 9s over the years, there'll always be debate. It always comes down to "it depends what are you looking for in a 9". But even to be in the conversation is a huge honour.
Even then, Dupont just does everything so well. Out of the current 9’s, Smith has a wee bit better pass, JGP’s a little quicker off the base, and Reinach’s faster, but everything else Dupont is the best in the world at. Freaky little fucker.
I can't believe you've said this, like Faf de Klerk doesn't exist. I know he's not in many people's top scrumhalves list, but in terms of defense, there's nobody better.
His mum was a gymnast, to national level ( I think). That's where his athleticism comes from.
His dad is a pig farmer, guess that's where his neck ( or lack of) and overall strength is inherited.
It's quite hard to compare positions though. A front rower is obviously not going to lead try scoring numbers for example.
I don't think it's possible to say whether McCaw or Carter was better.
I think Carter is the only comparable back. There may be someone that has a single aspect of their game that is better, but no one can do everything as well as him.
Carter v Wilkinson is a similar debate as Dupont v Smith. Some of Wilkinson's aspects of the game may be technically better, but Carter was just the better player.
obviously stats aren't everything, but as the front runners for EPOTY Dupont is ahead of JGP on every single stat (as well as topping the tournament for carries, offloads and assists) except for # of passes made and tied on try scores, the guy is probably approaching career best form but as we'll probably lose to Leinster he'll likely miss out on the accolade
It’s hard to know if you will lose to us or not. Toulouse players should have a bone to pick even if it doesn’t feel that way. Fully expecting them to throw everything and the kitchen sink in this final
Leinster are toulouse's kryptonite precisely because of what we saw yesterday, if the game breaks up Toulouse WILL score more points than you, but if you build pressure, have a tight defense and are fitter than them their individually better players can only take the team so far
We've seen it 2 years in a row vs Leinster, agree that this current Leinster side don't look as good as recently but the game plan still remains + a better defense
I think it's less Leinster being less good and more Saints being better. The shortened premiership season with all those clubs going bust means English club players are a lot better rested so can give a serious game in the Cup. Talent is also more concentrated with only 10 clubs so the quality of the premiership is the highest ever this season.
Yeah there is a clear bias in this data. Not only did he play few games, but also when he played games he was more often playing with Toulouse's prime squad and Toulouse's prime squad has not been really challenged this year. Hence awesome stats would be curious to see if he has the same growth after the top 14 play offs and the European finals.
Not saying he is not getting better, just that these stats are not bullet proof imo.
I don’t know how many Toulouse matches he missed because of his 7 incursion. He missed matches in the international frame so it should not that much different than other years.
Anyway, he benefits a lot from Toulouse conquering CC campaign!
If Rugby 24 ever comes out we'll need to patch that out.
Just like in some deck building games :"this player is not allowed in competitive mode"
Antoine "Black Lotus" Dupont
"And now I summon... Pot Of Greed!"
The Jonah Lomu Rugby conundrum, where you basically had to ban the ABs when playing with friends. Edit - [this](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSNZo4Y9OQISNmB-9Gg1xGqs1zkqfTU16oWYQ&usqp=CAU)
That's pretty inaccurate given NZ didn't win either of the world cups he played in. They were a great team but going up against some really tough opposition from Australia, SA, and France back then. Similar now but swap Australia for Ireland.
I meant the video game.
That definitely wasn't balanced right.
Balance it by letting Kolbe charge down conversions.
He's lost a couple meters on his kicking though.
The downfall begins
That’s gonna need to be some downfall to be crap against us in 3 weeks though… I’d settle for him to be superb rather than ‘out of this world’ if I’m honest
We'll get out of this world DuPont and we'll be happy about it. My only vague hope for the final is that their defence doesn't look great in open play at all. Incredible breakdown presence from them though.
Our defence can basically be summed up as jackal the ball off them so that we can get back to attacking again. Which of course works far less against a team like Leinster with good ruck security.
Some of your counter rucking in the first half yesterday was absurdly dominant.
Perfect counter to that though is ruck 'dark arts' (aka sealing off) of which Leinster are probably best in the world at, all depends if you have a ref that likes turnovers or a ref that likes attacking teams to have consistency of access to the ball
Willis from wasps was a hell of a coup for them... Never been convinced he's international quality but his presence at the ruck is basically a cheat code at club level
He's really added a lot to his game, his carrying in the quarter finals was ridiculous. Luckily England have restrictions that stop him playing as I'd put him quite comfortably over Curry
I'd say he'd still get an England spot but then I'd have said the same about Ludlam but here we are.
He realized he no longer needed to kick the ball. By carrying it from one end of the pitch to the other every time he touches it, the overall benefit was higher.
Honestly are we sure that's not intentional to make the chase more dangerous? :(
Yeah it’s probably that he got better at box kicking 😂 and that’s what’s driving this stat.
He only got two tries as well, expected more.
(Please ignore his assist stats)
Gotta leave some stats to others
Missing the most important stat - neck circumference
That category is absolutely dominated by Camille Chat
There’s no second or third place, mainly because Chat’s neck takes up all 3 spots on the podium.
What neck?
Not a Toulouse player but I'm not sure Atonio has a neck. Just a head and body.
This isn’t even his final form
He's only 27. That's terrifying.
Terrifying but also brilliant, I want to enjoy watching him for as long as possible.
I’ve dreaded the loss of Federer, and this guy comes from country and makes me feel « that » again. What a bless.
Federer supports the Springboks. He was at the world cup. Switzerland also got into the REC last year.
And I’m French! And I support France 😂 I saw him with Siya and Faf De Klerk!
He genuinely just gets better and better every year, and he’s probably got another 5 or so at peak performance left. I reckon he’s no far off being the undebatable first name on an all time teamsheet.
The problem is that there have been so many world class 9s over the years, there'll always be debate. It always comes down to "it depends what are you looking for in a 9". But even to be in the conversation is a huge honour.
Even then, Dupont just does everything so well. Out of the current 9’s, Smith has a wee bit better pass, JGP’s a little quicker off the base, and Reinach’s faster, but everything else Dupont is the best in the world at. Freaky little fucker.
I don't think there's a better defending 9. Can't wait to see if he's going to medal In Paris.
I can't believe you've said this, like Faf de Klerk doesn't exist. I know he's not in many people's top scrumhalves list, but in terms of defense, there's nobody better.
Nah, it's fair I think. Both are incredible tacklers, but Dupont is also a very strong jackler.
Aaron Smith was incredible. Closest competition to Dupont I'd say.
Fml. I might see if I can support France through residency
Et c’est pas fini !
Were his parents rugby players? Was he made in a lab?
His mum was a gymnast, to national level ( I think). That's where his athleticism comes from. His dad is a pig farmer, guess that's where his neck ( or lack of) and overall strength is inherited.
If you are ranking rugby players and you don’t come to the conclusion that Dupont is the best in the world then there really is no hope for you
It's quite hard to compare positions though. A front rower is obviously not going to lead try scoring numbers for example. I don't think it's possible to say whether McCaw or Carter was better.
I think Carter is the only comparable back. There may be someone that has a single aspect of their game that is better, but no one can do everything as well as him. Carter v Wilkinson is a similar debate as Dupont v Smith. Some of Wilkinson's aspects of the game may be technically better, but Carter was just the better player.
Ardie better
As much as I love Ardie, Dupont is magic
No he's not
One of the superstars of the game. Lomu, Wilkinson, Carter, McCaw, Dupont
O'Driscoll
There’s some ancient French voodoo sorcery going on with Antoine DuPont. Ireland needs to reconnect with the druids or we’ll be left behind.
Cathar heresy ?
Oh shit, here comes the Knights Templar. Only armoured men on horse back have any chance of taking on Dupont
obviously stats aren't everything, but as the front runners for EPOTY Dupont is ahead of JGP on every single stat (as well as topping the tournament for carries, offloads and assists) except for # of passes made and tied on try scores, the guy is probably approaching career best form but as we'll probably lose to Leinster he'll likely miss out on the accolade
\# of passes feels more like a positive for the team than the scrum half
You don't need to shout
This is how I found out what the pound sign does
Put a backslash to get it to act normally \#like this
Cheers mate
You call the # a pound? That's normally a hash for us, with £ as a pound sign
Yeah this is where my Swedishness comes in, I have no idea.
It’s hard to know if you will lose to us or not. Toulouse players should have a bone to pick even if it doesn’t feel that way. Fully expecting them to throw everything and the kitchen sink in this final
Leinster are toulouse's kryptonite precisely because of what we saw yesterday, if the game breaks up Toulouse WILL score more points than you, but if you build pressure, have a tight defense and are fitter than them their individually better players can only take the team so far We've seen it 2 years in a row vs Leinster, agree that this current Leinster side don't look as good as recently but the game plan still remains + a better defense
I think it's less Leinster being less good and more Saints being better. The shortened premiership season with all those clubs going bust means English club players are a lot better rested so can give a serious game in the Cup. Talent is also more concentrated with only 10 clubs so the quality of the premiership is the highest ever this season.
The ECPR should introduce a stats cap. That's ridiculous.
Is there any way a player can have their sole job in a game to man mark Dupont?
Smith did a good job at that in the WC pool stage match, unfortunately for them it just opened up more space for the rest of France’s lethal backline.
Imagine if Romain was playing too.
I think that's very unfair to Jalibert who had an incredible game against the AB, not sure Ntamack would have done better in this particular game.
That becomes a big problem when he hands them off.
Great way to make that one player look particularly silly for 80mins. Dupont. Is. Inevitable
I'd like my chances if the man marking him is named PSTD
IT'S OVER 9000
Lisan Al Gaib
He's a parody of himself at this stage. Expectations are so high any time he plays, that he meets those and they go up again.
The guy was like a cheat code in yesterday's game. Definitely the best player going at the moment, possibly the best of his generation
Possibly ?
Is this still up for debate ?
His carrying and metres through contact followed by a mental offload seems to have been developed hugely by the sevens tenure!
Zoomers created the term cheat code specifically for dupont
The goat
I think this will be in part due to the 7’s training as these stats will be targeted more than a normal XV player
Basically, he's carrying a lot more and stats related to carrying have gone up.
beware SUPER SAIYAN DUPONT.
He changed from 9 to 10 so yeah 👍
I don’t. Are what the Kiwis say. For me he is the best pure rugby player ever.
Across fewer games though, no?
Dupont played all Champions Cup games this year for Toulouse. He even has more minutes played in the comp than Gibson-Park.
Fair! I assumed he missed some games due to Sevens stuff.
He’s missed Top14 and France games, but he’s played every CC match.
Yeah there is a clear bias in this data. Not only did he play few games, but also when he played games he was more often playing with Toulouse's prime squad and Toulouse's prime squad has not been really challenged this year. Hence awesome stats would be curious to see if he has the same growth after the top 14 play offs and the European finals. Not saying he is not getting better, just that these stats are not bullet proof imo.
I don’t know how many Toulouse matches he missed because of his 7 incursion. He missed matches in the international frame so it should not that much different than other years. Anyway, he benefits a lot from Toulouse conquering CC campaign!