France captain Antoine Dupont has facial fracture but not out of World Cup: Federation

MARSEILLE – France captain Antoine Dupont suffered a facial fracture in Thursday’s record victory over Namibia, but has not yet been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) announced on Friday.

“Antoine Dupont has suffered a maxillo-zygomatic fracture. A specialist surgical opinion has been requested to determine the exact length of the player’s unavailability. Antoine Dupont remains with the France squad,” it said.

France, who ran in 14 tries in a record 96-0 win over their African opponents, are scheduled to play their final Pool A match against Italy in Lyon on Oct 6.

Media reports said Dupont would be sidelined for a month, meaning the influential scrum-half would miss not only the hosts’ game against the Italians, but also the Oct 14-15 quarter-finals.

The 26-year-old left the pitch at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome in the 46th minute following a clash of heads with Namibia skipper Johan Deysel in a clumsy tackle.

Deysel was initially handed a yellow card, later upgraded to red, although Namibia coach Allister Coetzee described it as an “unfortunate accident”.

Dupont, who is yet to lose in a France team he has skippered on home soil in 14 Tests, was immediately taken to hospital for scans.

Prop Cyril Baille said the injury had completely overshadowed a dominant French performance over a Namibian team ranked 21st in the world and yet to win a World Cup match after 25 matches in seven tournament appearances.

“We know how important he is in the squad, what he brings,” he said.

“When you look at the images, it’s a pretty violent impact. It tarnished the evening somewhat, there’s a lot of stress. Of course we’re happy with the scoreline, but it wasn’t a party in the changing room after that.”

Flanker Francois Cros said that if Dupont’s injury turned out to be serious, “it would obviously have an impact on him and on us” but added: “We still have some experienced nines who can take over.”

Baptiste Couilloud came on for Dupont and was full of running as he scored a try of his own, almost with his first touch, to ensure the French found their rhythm again after a raft of replacements.

The third scrum-half in the 33-man squad is Maxime Lucu, who stood out with a commanding performance in France’s win over Uruguay in their second pool match.

Les Bleus coach Fabien Galthie insisted in post-match comments that questions on whether Dupont should have been taken off at half-time of a game France were clearly going to win were a moot point.

“What do you want me to say? You can’t take 14 players off at half-time. Our plan was to bring off one, three and five at half-time, then the rest at the 55th minute,” he said.

“The aim was to give everyone some game time and not sit back for a month. The players wanted and needed to play.

“Our next match is in 15 days. We’ll take stock of everyone’s condition and quickly put together a team.” AFP, REUTERS