Dupont pays All Blacks ultimate respect

SPOTLIGHT: France captain Antoine Dupont believes “legendary” New Zealand are back to their best ahead of the two side’s clash on Saturday.

The All Blacks head to Paris on the back of three consecutive wins including last week’s impressive victory over Ireland.

Before their recent run, three time world champions New Zealand had started the Scott Robertson era with a sluggish June series and an unconvincing Rugby Championship.

“I think they’ve rediscovered their rugby and certainly their best level of performance of recent years,” Dupont told reporters on Friday.

“They’re a legendary team who have made generations of people dream with fantastic and inspiring players.

“They play a rugby which is close to what we love in France,” the former World Rugby player of the year added.

France are victorious in their past two outings against New Zealand, both wins coming at the Stade de France in 2021 and the opening clash of the 2023 World Cup.

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The victory in 2021 was Fabien Galthie’s biggest win since taking charge of the national team post the 2019 World Cup.

The win also ended a 14-match losing streak against New Zealand dating back to 2009.

“When you play the All Blacks it’s always a big, important game,” added Dupont who celebrated his 28th birthday on Friday.

“The one in 2021 was fundemental for the future of our story. We were a younger team, less experienced.”

Lock Scott Barrett will captain New Zealand as one of 10 survivors from the World Cup opener loss in the French capital.

“We probably lost the scrum battle last year,” Barrett said.

“It was a hot night, a tense night, we didn’t quite execute our plan.

“But this is a new group and we’re excited to build on what we’ve done so far in this tour and looking to finish strong,” he added.

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Dupont played his first Test for France in over a year this past weekend against Japan.

The Olympic gold medalist provided two assists in an influential performance.

“He’s the general as such,” Barrett said. “He’s strong, skillful, he’s pretty well rounded. He controls their game.

“The flip side of that, if we can keep the ball out of his hands and at least giving him messy ball, then that will go a long way for us in terms of the result tomorrow night.”