Friend and foe unite to acclaim France’s ‘martian’ Antoine Dupont

France's Antoine Dupont offloads to Arthur Vincent as he is tackled by Luca Sperandio of Italy. Picture: INPHO/Dave Winter

It is one thing for the rugby press and fans to proclaim a certain player ‘the world’s best’ — it is something else altogether when another player who is widely regarded as number one does it.

So, when All Blacks scrum-half Aaron Smith hailed France’s Antoine Dupont as the best in the game today in reply to a tweet from the Guinness Six Nations, it was — as numerous Twitter users noted — a case of ‘game recognises game’.