France captain Antoine Dupont's Rugby World Cup is in doubt after scans confirmed he sustained a maxillo-zygomatic fracture in his jaw during his team's 96-0 victory against Namibia; A specialist surgical opinion has been requested to determine the exact length of his unavailability
Friday 22 September 2023 15:49, UK
France captain Antoine Dupont's Rugby World Cup campaign is in doubt after scans confirmed he fractured his jaw in Thursday's win over Namibia.
The 27-year-old sustained the injury in the 46th minute via a head-to-head clash with Johan Deysel, whose initial yellow card was upgraded to a red after a bunker review.
Coach Fabien Galthie spoke after the game and admitted that "there was a suspicion of a crack or fracture of the maxillary bone".
The French Rugby Federation (FFR) then followed up with the below statement on Friday confirming the news:
"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."
The mercurial scrum-half looks set to miss France's last Pool A game against Italy on October 6 at least, and is a major doubt for their potential quarter-final clash against world No 1 side Ireland or defending champions South Africa.
France attack coach Laurent Labit has provided some insight on how long it will take to assess the full extent of the damage, and whether Dupont will require surgical intervention to save his World Cup campaign.
"We were happy with the match but it has been a rough night. We're not going to overthink it for now, we are waiting for the surgeon's opinion, which will determine the length of Antoine's unavailability. We have 48 or 72 hours to wait," he told a press conference on Friday.
"We will wait for two-three days to have the opinion of a specialist. It's Antoine and the surgeon who will make the decision and we will respect it," he added.
Maxime Lucu is Dupont's usual replacement at scrum-half and France also have Baptiste Couilloud who can deputise.
France are already without their first-choice fly-half Romain Ntamack for the World Cup after the Toulouse player suffered a knee injury in a warm-up test last month.
Since Galthie took over after the 2019 World Cup, Les Bleus have won a Six Nations by achieving a Grand Slam and have rediscovered their touch, becoming one of the favourites for the sport's showpiece on home soil, largely thanks to their pair of talented half-backs.
