England defence coach Joe El-Abd insists Antoine Dupont was destined for greatness from an early stage after working with France’s virtuoso scrum-half during his formative years.
El-Abd has warned England they must not lose concentration for even a moment as he devises a plan to shut down Dupont in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash at Allianz Stadium.
The two were present together at Castres from 2015 to 2017, El-Abd as a forwards coach and Dupont as a young professional who was already showing flashes of the genius that has seen him become the greatest player of the current generation – and perhaps of all time.
“Is there a weakness? I’m not sure if we’re talking about weaknesses,” said El-Abd, who has played and coached in French rugby since 2009.
“It’s just about being ready at all moments and not switching off at any point. And if we can do that for 80 minutes, we’ll see what that gives us.
“We need to put him under as much pressure as possible so we don’t see one of those moments from him.
“At Castres we saw that the talent was there right away so he’s always had it, but aligned with the work that he puts in, it was always going to come to this moment.
“We knew where he was going to go. It was spoken about in the dressing room, even in France, that there was a player coming through who had something a bit different about him.
“I always remember him kicking with both feet, trying to kick with his left foot. And now, obviously, he’s got that in his locker as well.”
On top of containing Dupont, England must subdue the giant French pack, with prop Will Stuart ready for a thunderous collision at the scrum.
“France have a very heavy tight-five unit. They’re all extremely aggressive,” Stuart said.
“The French league is refereed slightly differently with scrums, they are allowed to be more aggressive and it is rewarded a bit more. They feed off that. As a prop, it’s a litmus test.”
