Will 2021 be the year when Antoine Dupont succeeds Thierry Dusautoir in the very short list of French people crowned with the title of best rugby player in the world? The scrum-half of the XV of France and the Stade Toulousain will in any case not be far, since he was named in the list of four players who can claim it this year. The other three being English second line Maro Itoje, third line Michael Hooper and center Samu Kerevi, both Australian.
Two French women also named
Only two French – the former scrum half and current coach Fabien Galthié, in 2002, and therefore the former third row Thierry Dusautoir, in 2011 – have so far obtained this distinction, which had fallen in 2019 to the third row south – African Pieter-Steph Du Toit. Two French women, Caroline Boujard and Laure Sansus, were also nominated for the title of player of the year, along with two English women, Zoe Aldcroft and Poppy Cleall.