If there is one player who shouldn't have any trouble convincing his coaches he is worthy of praise, it should be World Rugby player of the year and Six Nations player of the championship Antoine Dupont.
But there is actually one French prize which continues to elude him, and that's Shaun Edwards' ultimate accolade for the best defender in a match - a bottle of vintage Champagne Dom Perignon.
Scrum-half Dupont, who led France to a first Grand Slam in 12 years, has admitted former Wales defence guru Edwards - who has been performing the same role with Les Bleus since after the 2019 Rugby World Cup with immense impact - doesn't hand the award out easily. But the 25-year-old Toulouse half-back is hoping his 15 tackles in the 25-13 win over England, equalling the record for a French scrum-half held by head coach Fabien Galthie 20 years ago, may be enough.
Read more: Shaun Edwards and Clive Woodward in uncomfortable TV moment that seemed to last forever
"We’ve not had our debrief yet so I’ve not been able to get it, but I hope that at our next meet-up, I will," Dupont said. "He’s not wanted to give me the award for best defender so far since he’s been with us!"
The French Grand Slam made it four Six Nations clean sweeps for Edwards during his coaching career, having helped oversee three for Wales. As expected, his appointment with France has been a huge hit, with France players now spending more time working hard off the ball than in previous campaigns. His value is so high that the RFU have even been told to draft him in to aid England, which you can read more about here.
"Shaun is precise on what he wants and knows exactly what he wants on the pitch," Dupont added. "With his experience and his record, everyone listens. You could see from the very start that he gave the scrum-half a relatively free role, and they would get a lot of interceptions. That is what I used to do a lot but now he has changed his view on it, and I defend a bit wider out, maybe in the style of a centre which gives us an extra three-quarter in the defensive line."
As for the reports that the Six Nations trophy spent some of the post-match celebrations in the River Seine during some over-exuberant post-Slam celebrations, Dupont gave nothing away: "I read that story in the media, but I wasn’t aware of it. I was the one who brought the trophy home from the night out around 6.30am and it was in a good state. Whether it had a little bath beforehand, I don’t know."
