2021 Rugby Union Player of the Year, Antoine Dupont

 About

Antoine Dupont is considered one of the best rugby union players. He plays as a scrum half for Toulouse rugby club and the French national team, the latter of which he is the captain of.

Life and Club Career

Dupont was born on the 15th of November 1996, he grew up in the village of Castelnau-Magnoac and at the age of 4 he started playing for the local rugby club Magnoac FC. He joined second division club "FC Auch Gers" in 2011 as a junior, he displayed promising talent at the club. 

Auch were later relegated from the second division in 2014 and Dupont joined the Top 14 (first division) club Castres Olympique after they won the title in 2013. In 2016 he was recruited by Toulouse to play in the 2017-18 season. 

Academically, Dupont studied for a master's degree in sport management in 2019 at the Toulouse School of Management 

At Toulouse, Dupont's talent flourished as he won the Top 14 title twice with the club and beat rivals La Rochelle 22-17 in the 2020-2021 European Rugby Champions cup final in Twickenham to win the European Cup.

International Career

In 2016 he made his first international appearance for the French under-20s team against Argentina in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship. In 2017 he was called up for and played for the French national team in The Six Nations, he made his debut against Italy coming on as a replacement in a 40 - 18 away win.

 In 2022 he won the six nations with France also winning a grand slam which involves beating every other team in the tournament. Individually he won the six nations player of the tournament in 2020 and 2022, he also won the world rugby player of the year in 2021 establishing himself as one of the greats.