Recently ranked in first place in a prestigious Top 100 by RugbyPass, Antoine Dupont will remember the year 2024 for a long time. Champions/Top 14 double with Stade Toulouse, Olympic gold medal with France 7, the scrum half from Stade Toulousain shone on all grounds.
Antoine Dupont, again and always number 1
From Lannemezan, the former Castres has come a long way. Today he is THE face of French rugby. But not only that. In the eyes of many, he is the best player in the world at the moment.
On the oval planet, very few people have not heard of Antoine Dupont. You would have to live on a desert island to miss the performances of the number 9 of the France team.
Despite sometimes overwhelming media coverageit seems that Oval’s fans never tire of following his adventures on or off the meadow. According to RugbyPass, the Stade Toulousain scrum-half was the most searched player on Google in 2024.
He is also not the only Habs in this Top 10. But he is probably not the player you would have imagined. It is not about Romain Ntamack or even Grégory Alldritt, but about Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang.
The Ilona Maher surprise that is not one
The player from the Section Paloise, titled with the French 7s team during the Paris Olympic Games, occupies a very good 5th placejust behind Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe.
There is only one woman in this ranking, but her presence is not a surprise. The opposite would even have been surprising as the American Ilona Maher has become a figure in world rugby.
VIDEO. Far ahead of Dupont and Kolisi, the unexpected rise of Ilona Maher: The new icon of women’s rugbyInternational at 7, she made her mark last summer on the field, but also outside through her videos on social networks. Recently landed in England, she continues to gain fans and could well take first place from Antoine Dupont next year.
