Ronan O’Gara likens France star to Messi and Ronaldo

Ronan O’Gara has named France scrum-half Antoine Dupont as the most effective participant on the earth.

Dupont was merely distinctive for Les Bleus of their 40-point victory in opposition to the Italians, contributing 4 strive assists and scoring one in all his personal.

The Toulouse man is simply 24 however is widely regarded as essentially the most gifted rugby participant on the earth proper now, with O’Gara telling Off The Ball that he believes Dupont is able to making a legacy akin to that of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo’s.

“Dupont is correct up there already, he’s the most effective participant on the earth for me. He’s a critical, critical participant.

“After we discuss Messi and about Ronaldo, I believe in 5 years time we’ll be speaking about Dupont in the identical glorified method,” O’Gara mentioned.

Coping with Dupont

The French playmaker is anticipated to trigger a number of issues for Eire of their Six Nations encounter on Sunday and can probably be a significant level of focus for the Irish defence.

Nonetheless, the previous Eire fly-half reckons there isn’t a lot to be gained from placing an excessive amount of emphasis on shutting down Dupont.

“I don’t know the way clever it could be to focus on Dupont. I believe you simply have to remain as linked as doable in your line of defense when he’s across the ball,” O’Gara mentioned.

“Should you form of go after him, he’ll simply create one thing for another person. Dupont excels is his capability in damaged area play in comparison with every other 9 on the earth.

“What Dupont does higher than anybody else is that he will get on the ball in chaos or in unstructured play and he has a go.

“It could actually appear to be there’s completely no gaps, no menace after which bang he goes off his left foot, he goes off his proper foot and abruptly he’s 20 metres up the pitch. He’s additionally extremely robust, he’s somewhat pocket rocket.”

Prediction for Sunday

Regardless of the appreciable menace that the French quantity 9 poses to Andy Farrell’s aspect, O’Gara believes Eire will get the higher of Les Bleus on the Aviva Stadium.

“I believe Eire are going to win.

“Why do I say that? I believe dwelling benefit is large even with out the general public and Eire have by no means misplaced their first two video games within the historical past of the Six Nations. I don’t anticipate them to begin this weekend,” O’Gara commented.

Eire will want a win in opposition to France on Sunday to maintain their hopes of a Six Nations title alive whereas France will look to stay in pole place for his or her first one since 2010.

Learn Extra About: antoine dupont, Cristiano Ronaldo, france rugby, Lionel Messi, ronan o’gara