Men’s Six Nations: Ireland v France

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 8 March Kick-off: 14:15 GMT

Coverage: Listen live on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, Radio Ulster & BBC Sounds; text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website and app; watch on ITV1

Peruse Ireland and France’s line-ups for Saturday’s potential title decider and you’ll find no shortage of instantly compelling head-to-head battles.

Caelan Doris v Gregory Alldritt pits two of the world’s best number eights against one another, Andrew Porter v Uini Atonio will be an engrossing scrum-time tussle, while powerhouse Irish centre Bundee Aki will meet his match in Yoram Moefana.

But naturally, most eyes are drawn to the battle of the scrum-halves.

In Antoine Dupont, France have a generational talent. A world player of the year in both the 15s and sevens codes, an Olympic gold medallist and a poster boy for his sport, Dupont has gleefully exhausted superlatives in recent years.

His otherworldly gifts even moved his Toulouse team-mates to refer to him as ‘the Martian’, Emmanuel Meafou revealed last year.

Dupont’s worthy adversary on Saturday is Jamison Gibson-Park. ‘Jamo’ to his team-mates, he is Ireland’s unflappable metronome and the frontrunner to wear nine for the British and Irish Lions in Australia this summer.

“Yeah, it will be interesting,” said Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby.

“Two fabulous players at the peak of their game. There a number of individual battles across the teams, but that one will be pretty special.”

This will not be the first time Gibson-Park and Dupont have crossed paths, of course. They have twice met in the Champions Cup, including last year’s final when Dupont’s Toulouse beat Gibson-Park’s Leinster in extra-time.

They have met three times in the Six Nations, although not since 2022 (Gibson-Park was injured in 2023 while Dupont skipped last year’s championship).

This time, the stakes are suitably sky-high.

This is a hugely important game for Dupont and France. For a player regarded by some as the greatest of all time, a single Six Nations title – in 2022 – is an underwhelming return.

He does not lack emotional ammunition heading to Dublin. In 2023, not even his herculean try-saving tackle on Mack Hansen could stop Ireland’s charge to the Grand Slam.

Later that year, France’s home World Cup campaign ended in the quarter-finals. With his Olympic debut on the horizon, Dupont sat out last year’s Six Nations as Les Bleus again finished second to the Irish. He led Toulouse to the Champions Cup in May, but craves more silverware at Test level.

Considering his Top 14 commitments are likely to rule him out of facing the All Blacks in the summer, the next couple of weeks takes on even greater significance as he leads France’s bid to shift the Six Nations balance of power back to Paris.

Reassuringly for France head coach Fabien Galthie, Dupont has shone since his sevens sojourn.

In his first game back for Toulouse, in October, he scored a 13-minute hat-trick against Clermont. On his Test return, he captained his country to an unbeaten autumn campaign, which included a 30-29 win over New Zealand.

Fresh from scoring four tries in as many Champions Cup pool games for Toulouse, he sparkled on his Six Nations return.

Dupont’s assist for Theo Attissogbe’s try launched a 43-0 rout over Wales, his dead-eyed cross-kick encapsulating the decision-making and accuracy that helps set him apart.

He did, however, endure a rare off-night in the defeat by England. He was well shackled by the home side’s defence and was not immune to the handling errors that derailed the French cause, dropping a Thomas Ramos pass when an opening try seemed a certainty.

But as the greats often do, he bounced back, masterfully orchestrating a French attack that scored 11 tries against Italy in Rome.

He even bagged himself a couple, his first Six Nations tries since the Grand Slam-clinching win over England in 2022.

France missed Dupont last year, but he has been at the centre of this year’s title bid, his eight direct try involvements (two tries, six assists) bettered only by his team-mate Louis Bielle-Biarrey (four tries, five assists).

Significantly, Romain Ntamack returns from suspension to partner Toulouse team-mate Dupont at half-back in Dublin. They started all five games of France’s 2022 Grand Slam triumph together, but only one since the 2023 World Cup because of Ntamack’s injuries and Dupont’s sevens commitments.

While Dupont is a global superstar, Gibson-Park prefers to stay away from the spotlight. Unfortunately for him, he is too good to remain in the background.

It hasn’t always been this way.

After giving up on representing New Zealand, Gibson-Park moved to Leinster from the Hurricanes in 2016. He qualified for Ireland under the residency rule in 2019 but was left out of Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad.

He had to bide his time at Leinster, too, behind Luke McGrath, who started the 2018 and 2019 Champions Cup finals.

Ireland coach Andy Farrell, however, recognised his potential, handing him his Test debut in October 2020.

He shone in the autumn wins over Japan and New Zealand a year later, broke up Ireland’s iconic Johnny Sexton-Conor Murray partnership and has not looked back, rarely being overlooked when fit.

Having missed last summer’s Test series in South Africa through injury, Gibson-Park has elevated his game. In November’s defeat by New Zealand, he was one of a select few in green who showed up, and was key in the victories over Argentina and Australia.

He has been even better in the Six Nations, delivering a series of game-changing moments for Ireland in recent weeks.

In his player-of-the-match display against England, he scored a crucial try to jolt Ireland out of a sluggish start, brilliantly side-stepping Freddie Steward after James Lowe had shrugged off Alex Mitchell.

He was arguably even better as Ireland powered past Scotland in Murrayfield.

His superb, try-saving tackle on Blair Kinghorn – after sprinting more than half the length of the field – demonstrated his defensive awareness, speed and ability to read the play as he stopped the hosts cutting Ireland’s lead to two points.

In Cardiff – where he again won player of the match – he showed how his kicking helps Ireland open teams up. With Ireland trailing Wales 18-13 in the second half, it was his pinpoint cross-kick that allowed Lowe to palm the ball into Jamie Osborne’s path for a crucial try.

Alongside Lowe and Sam Prendergast, Gibson-Park has been at the forefront of Ireland’s ramped-up kicking game this year. He recently said he “couldn’t kick snow off a rope” when he arrived at Leinster in 2016, so he has turned weakness into strength.

Gibson-Park is softly spoken in front of the media but his leadership should not be overlooked, either.

After Sexton’s retirement, he has helped guide untested fly-halves Jack Crowley and Prendergast through their debut Six Nations campaigns.

To win in Dublin and take control of the championship, both sides need every facet operating with optimum efficiency.

But much will hinge on how the nines fare. Considering what they have produced in recent weeks, they are poised to take centre stage on Saturday.