Unanimity is tough to find in the parochial, pestiferous realm of sporting debate, but there is one question to which a consensus answer is increasingly being agreed. Ask just about anyone in rugby about Antoine Dupont and their response will end up at the same destination, perhaps preceded by a stunned silence or a stream of superlatives.

“He’s the best player in the world,” France No 8 Gregory Alldritt affirmed on Friday night after Dupont’s starring role in the Six Nations win over Wales. Toulouse teammate Jack Willis went a step further following Champions Cup glory last year: “He’s probably the best rugby player of all time.”

A few detractors remain, particularly in the southern hemisphere where Dupont has hitherto been seldom sighted, but rugby has perhaps never seen a game-bending talent quite like the scrum-half. France have often been ruled by their petit generals but the 28-year-old possesses a command, confidence and creativity beyond that of just about anyone to have held an oval ball.

Jonah Lomu inspired awe and launched rugby into a new era; Dan Carter was a perfect 10 of immaculate standards; Eben Etzebeth and Richie McCaw’s relentless excellence have been the bedrock of double World Cup-winning sides. Yet there is something different about Dupont.

Captain, leader and playmaking pivot, he assumes just about every duty for France as they chase more silverware to garland their golden generation. His sevens stint proved how he can transform a team’s culture – he may not have been the hosts’ best pure player at Paris 2024 but like all sporting greats, he has an ability to conjure a moment of magic out of thin air. There are some in France who feel his sevens sojourn may have made him even better.

“He brings an aura with him which carries the French squad, which is important,” coach Fabien Galthie explained ahead of this Six Nations. There is a Lionel Messi-like quality to Dupont’s game in his ability to disprove the rules of rugby and make a questionable decision right with his invention and physical superiority. By no means a big man, Dupont possesses exceptional power in a compact frame and bursts away from contact like few others.

Take the creation of Theo Attissogbe’s two tries against Wales. For the first, Dupont dummies to a pod of forwards waiting to carry before weaving backwards and sideways. This should invite the defensive line on to him but a subtle feint holds them, with a further backward step opening room for a delicate dab of a crossfield kick.

For the young wing’s second, Dupont spots the Welsh defence rushing more quickly up on the pod of carriers and darts past them, shaking off the attentions of Dafydd Jenkins. A vicious left-footed step bamboozles Liam Williams, one of the most secure defensive full-backs of the last decade, before the scrum-half hurls a pass virtually over his head to tee up Attissogbe as two defenders envelop him.

‘It’s his ability to get out of trouble,” England attack coach, and former scrum half, Richard Wigglesworth outlines. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The ball will bobble out of a ruck, and it’s not perfect, but he somehow gets a ball popped out when he shouldn’t do. He rarely gets tackled, and the ball rarely stays static. He will bounce out, beat three defenders and put a cross-kick in. Or he’ll shrug you off, keep the ball moving. I’ve never seen anyone get out of trouble as well as him.”

His skills of improvisation are crucial to France’s gameplan, using heavy forwards as one-out runners or on the pick-and-go before allowing Dupont the freedom to exploit any fissures that the blasters create. It is a method also favoured by club Toulouse, who possess many of the same thumping forwards as France; while possessing dynamic backs, Toulouse play wider than the first receiver at the fifth-lowest rate in the Top 14 this season.

It can be seen in the stats from the opening round of this Six Nations, too. According to insights from Sage, Dupont’s average depth of pass of 1.81 metres was the shallowest among all scrum-halves, evidence of how France use their power carriers close in to punch central holes. France’s playmakers are then given the licence to play eyes-up rugby, with the natural cohesion of a Toulousain spine aiding them.

South Africa’s Cheslin Kolbe thrived alongside Dupont, Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos during his time at the French club between 2017 and 2021, and recalls duelling with the scrum-half in certain scenarios in training. “Especially during training, times that were loose we would always find ourselves against one another,” the Springbok tells The Independent. “I’d step him, he’d step me. We’d always try and challenge each other.

“He’s a special talent and a special human being, as well. It was a privilege to play with him during my time in France. The way he has progressed in 15s and sevens, what he has achieved, is really special. And he’s still young – there’s a lot he wants to achieve.”

But there is another, less flashy side to Dupont. The great gifts he possesses as an attacking force are allied to a nuts-and-bolts game that is the envy of even some of the best game managers in his position. Across the Autumn Nations Series, no player recorded more than his 1,234 kick metres, with his closest challenge, Marcus Smith, 454m in arrears despite playing an extra game. His 36 kicks in play were also a campaign high, while his max hang time of 4.7secs was the highest across November.

The Frenchman has refined his ability to box kick off both feet, which provides a massive tactical advantage when exiting the 22. While scrum-halves are now being afforded greater protection at rucks and set pieces, a capacity to pivot either way depending on the fringe and backfield defensive shape that the opposition are offering gives Dupont a significant edge.

“Kicking ultimately is about how you can kick under as little pressure as possible,” England’s Ben Spencer, who has worked on kicking off both feet himself over the last two seasons, explains. “That’s the ideal situation for a nine.

“If you are able to manipulate defenders around the ruck, then you can hopefully do that kicking off both feet. Exits are becoming more and more important as the game evolves.

“Dupont has set a bar now where everyone else is trying to catch up. He was probably the first one to kick off both feet pretty successfully. That was an area I saw that I could go after. Having that variety in your game is really helpful.”

It is a grand shame that Dupont is highly unlikely to be part of France’s tour to New Zealand in the summer, with a marquee series cheapened by France sending a second string. In contrast with the rest of the world, in France it is the Top 14 clubs that hold the power; their gruelling season and long play-off campaign take precedence over the national side’s July trips. It makes Six Nations success all the more important, particularly in the context of France’s World Cup disappointment on home soil.

But where Dupont goes, success tends to follow. “The boys joke around and call him ‘The Martian’, like he’s not from Earth, he’s an alien,” club and country colleague Emmanuel Meafou revealed last year. “The stuff he’s done in games is only half of what he’s capable of. He does some stuff at training where you can’t do anything but shake your head and just wish you could do that, too.”