Antoine Dupont becomes first French winner of EPCR European Player of the Year award

ANTOINE DUPONT HAS been named EPCR European Player of the Year, becoming the first French player to win the award.

The scrum-half was presented with the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy after his Toulouse side beat La Rochelle at Twickenham today to win a record fifth European Cup.

Dupont scored four tries during Toulouse’s run to the final, and edged out teammates Jerome Kaino and Julien Marchard in the voting process.

La Rochelle pair Will Skelton and Grégory Alldritt had also been in the running.

Dupont becomes the first French player to win the award, although there have been four previous winners from Top 14 sides. 

England out-half Jonny Wilkinson took the honour in 2013 while playing with Toulon, while Steffon Armitage (2014), Nick Abendanon (2015) and Leone Nakarawa (2018) have also won the award.

Dupont with the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Over 30,000 votes were registered online to determine the winner of the 2021 Player of the Year, with those votes counted alongside the opinions of an expert panel which included Alan Quinlan, Erik Bonneval, Bryan Habana, Dimitri Yachvili and the BBC’s Sonja McLaughlan. 

EPCR European Player of the Year – Roll of Honour
2021: Antoine Dupont (Toulouse)
2020: Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
2019: Alex Goode (Saracens)
2018: Leone Nakarawa (Racing 92)
2017: Owen Farrell (Saracens)
2016: Maro Itoje (Saracens)
2015: Nick Abendanon (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
2014: Steffon Armitage (RC Toulon)
2013: Jonny Wilkinson (RC Toulon)
2012: Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby)
2011: Sean O’Brien (Leinster Rugby)
2010: Ronan O’Gara (Munster Rugby – best player of first 15 years of European club rugby)