Antoine Dupont is arguably the best player of all time.
Dupont lifted back-to-back Six Nations titles on Saturday as France edged England 48–46 in an epic finale in Paris.
What eluded the 29-year-old during the early part of his international career was trophies, but that has now certainly changed.
His CV may lack a Rugby World Cup, but it continues to strengthen the debate that he is rugby’s GOAT.
Outshining the star of French rugby has not even been worth entertaining over the past few seasons.
The France captain won the player of the Six Nations in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
However, Dupont is still not long back from a nasty anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered against Ireland in round four of last year’s Six Nations.
He missed the end of that tournament and France wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey rightfully took the limelight.
The 22-year-old bagged a record eight tries to win player of the championship.
Roll on 12 months and he scored four tries against England to help Les Bleus win another title, taking his tally in this year’s tournament to nine – breaking his own record.
Bielle-Biarrey, who has a strong chance of winning the player of the championship for a second successive year, has now scored in 10 straight Six Nations games, a record he will look to extend next year.
Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll is the tournament’s highest-ever try-scorer with 26 – eight clear of Bielle-Biarrey, who has only played in 14 Six Nations games.
The French flyer, who is showing no signs of slowing down, is scoring at a rate rarely seen in international rugby.
Bielle-Biarrey showed excellent footballing ability to nudge the ball in front of England’s Jack van Poortvliet for his vital fourth try.
“He is running at over 10 metres per second – the fastest player in the Six Nations – and he has the deftest of touches. Dennis Bergkamp would be thrilled with that,” former England wing Ugo Monye told BBC Rugby Union Weekly.
“He is the Erling Haaland of the rugby world. Give him the ball and he will finish.”