Wing Tommy Freeman will be conscious of Dupont’s ability to expose over-eager defences with cross-field kicks, but insists that England should not be in awe of the talismanic scrum-half.
“You can’t overestimate how good a player he is, but he’s human. He’s like everyone else – you take his legs and he goes down,” Freeman said.
“It’s all about picking things up nice and early with him and putting him under pressure.
“I’m sure like any other player, when you put pressure on them they start to leak a few opportunities.”
England attack coach and former scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth highlighted Dupont’s ability to turn the tables on a defence, launching attacks when apparently close to losing possession and territory, as one of his greatest assets.
“I’ve never seen anyone get out of trouble as well as him,” said Wigglesworth.
“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.”
France are hunting a fourth successive win over England in the tournament – a run that would be their best in the fixture since 1978.
Meanwhile, England need a shock victory to improve a grim run of recent results, with eight losses, admittedly each by single-figure margins, in their past 13 Tests.
