While Irish rugby has seen a massive surge in its player depth over the last decade, it is also true that there has been an increase of world class coaches produced on these shores.
One of the best is former Ireland U20s head coach and current attack coach at Bordeaux Bégles, Noel McNamara.
The Clare man oversees one of the Champions Cups most electric back lines - littered with French internationals - who topped their pool while tearing teams asunder.
READ HERE: Six Nations : Ronan O'Gara Identifies France Star As Bigger Loss Than Dupont For Ireland Game
Ireland Will Have Their Hands Full Against France
One of these Bordeaux French internationals is the 31-year-old Maxime Lucu, who, as McNamara admits, has been living in the shadow of the Antoine Dupont for a number of years.
However, while Irish fans may rejoice ahead of their Friday's Six Nations fixture against a Dupont-less France team, McNamara's break down of Lucu's game may make them think twice.
"The thing that's always said about Maxime is he's not Anton Dupont. And I think that's a pretty straightforward statement, I don't think anybody is," McNamara said on The Counter Ruck podcast.
He was appointed as a captain this season at Bordeaux and has done an absolutely fantastic job in that role. And, you know, really he's just an outstanding rugby player.
It can be said 'oh well he's not Dupont' but he's an outstanding rugby player in his own right. You know, in terms of his understanding of the game, his leadership skills, his core skills are absolutely fantastic and he's probably been one of the main drivers of the team over the last number of weeks, and the run of games where we've been pretty successful.
So I think in terms of his selection, I think it's a no brainer. I would expect to see him and Matthieu Jalibert at 9 and 10 on Friday night.
And for the general public that maybe are expecting to see Antoine Dupont, that's obviously not what you will see. But what you will see is an outstanding rugby player who will run the game in his own way and manages the game really, really well.
READ HERE: Ireland U20s 2019 Six Nations Grand Slam Winners: Where Are They Now
8 December 2023; Maxime Lucu of Bordeaux-Begles during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 1 Round 1 match between Connacht and Bordeaux-Begles at The Sportsground in Galway. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
A key area of France's strategy is to kick possession away at most opportunities when inside their own half.
As McNamara explains, Lucu's two-footed skills make him an ideally suited player for the French:
"He's an absolutely fantastic kicker off both feet, which again is something that's taken for granted over here in France, but it's not necessarily something that everybody can do.
"They talk here a little bit about the number of lines that they kick across, you know, so if you're inside the 22 if you can across the 22, across the 10, across the halfway and across the sideline, then you've crossed four lines. Well the number of times that Maxim Luca will cross four lines off both feet is absolutely incredible."
31 January 2020; Ireland head coach Noel McNamara speaks with assistant coach Kieran Campbell prior to the U20 Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Scotland at Irish Independent Park in Cork. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
And while he is certainly not Antoine Dupont - nobody is - he can run and execute transition attacks at a high level.
"I think we saw as well when we played Clermont away just before the resumption of Europe, and in that game he demonstrated some other side of his game as well," McNamara continued.
"There was some transition opportunities early in the game inside our own half - he saw the space and he was able to take it as well.
"So ultimately we're talking about a player who is probably in his prime, who has maybe lived a little bit in the shadow of Dupont, but in his own right is an absolutely outstanding rugby player."
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