‘Haaland of rugby’ – how Bielle-Biarrey has stormed stage

Antoine Dupont is arguably the best player of all time.

Dupont lifted back-to-back Six Nations titles on Saturday as France edged England 48–46 in an epic finale in Paris.

What eluded the 29-year-old during the early part of his international career was trophies, but that has now certainly changed.

His CV may lack a Rugby World Cup, but it continues to strengthen the debate that he is rugby’s GOAT.

Outshining the star of French rugby has not even been worth entertaining over the past few seasons.

The France captain won the player of the Six Nations in 2020, 2022 and 2023.

However, Dupont is still not long back from a nasty anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered against Ireland in round four of last year’s Six Nations.

He missed the end of that tournament and France wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey rightfully took the limelight.

The 22-year-old bagged a record eight tries to win player of the championship.

Roll on 12 months and he scored four tries against England to help Les Bleus win another title, taking his tally in this year’s tournament to nine – breaking his own record.

Bielle-Biarrey, who has a strong chance of winning the player of the championship for a second successive year, has now scored in 10 straight Six Nations games, a record he will look to extend next year.

Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll is the tournament’s highest-ever try-scorer with 26 – eight clear of Bielle-Biarrey, who has only played in 14 Six Nations games.

The French flyer, who is showing no signs of slowing down, is scoring at a rate rarely seen in international rugby.

Bielle-Biarrey showed excellent footballing ability to nudge the ball in front of England’s Jack van Poortvliet for his vital fourth try.

“He is running at over 10 metres per second – the fastest player in the Six Nations – and he has the deftest of touches. Dennis Bergkamp would be thrilled with that,” former England wing Ugo Monye told BBC Rugby Union Weekly.

In terms of pure numbers, the Bordeaux Begles wing scored 33 times for club and country last season.

That was one shy of prolific Manchester City striker Haaland, who is known for breaking multiple goal-scoring records.

This season, Bielle-Biarrey has a total of 27 tries and will be aiming to better his 2024–25 campaign.

Haaland has been criticised for offering only output – something that cannot be said of Bielle-Biarrey.

Having made a name for himself by using his lightning speed to get on the end of scores, Bielle-Biarrey has far more to his game.

“His defence is very good, and he is so busy,” Monye added.

“He also had a number of assists in this Six Nations. His aerial work is brilliant, as is his kicking game. He is more than a finisher.”

Bielle-Biarrey, at only 20, forced his way into France’s starting XV for their home World Cup in 2023, where he scored four times.

France’s all-time top try-scorer Damian Penaud was on the other wing and had been a key performer for Fabien Galthie until his shock omission from this year’s Six Nations.

“No-one has mentioned Penaud in the last few weeks,” former Wales captain Sam Warburton told BBC Rugby Union Weekly.

Dupont’s 2025 Six Nations ended at the back of a ruck in the Aviva Stadium. Ireland forward Tadhg Beirne fell on his leg, twisting the scrum-half’s knee and rupturing ligaments.

Dupont was sidelined for nearly nine months before making his return for club side Toulouse to considerable fanfare.

And with neat symmetry, his Test return was also against Ireland in the first night of the tournament.

Dupont’s game was never just about fast-twitch burst of pace, but there was still a question of whether he would come back as the same player.

France fans needn’t have worried.

The 2021 World Player of the Year, Dupont buzzed around pulling his team into shape and poking holes in Ireland, none more so than when a cute chip ahead helped set up Bielle-Biarrey for his second try in a 36-14 win.

Come the end of the tournament that combination was still clicking, with France trailing by a point deep into the second half against England, Dupont’s roundhouse box kick set up Bielle-Biarrey’s fourth try.

Dupont has long been the face of the team. The star of adverts, billboards and viral moments, not least his brilliant try-saving tackle on Mack Hansen in the 2023 Six Nations.

He memorably appeared on the front of the French edition of GQ magazine in a canary-yellow dressing gown and has been on the front row of designer runways at Paris Fashion Week.

Bielle-Biarrey, still only 22, is not quite so comfortable in the off-pitch limelight.

And given he wears a signature red scrum cap, he is not as recognisable.

His father Joel told BBC Sport last year that Louis finds the impossibility of satisfying all the requests for selfies and autographs he gets a difficult part of the job.

But his supersonic speed and sky-high try-scoring rate – the easiest currency for casual fans to understand – mean those requests will only increase.