22 September 2023 , 09:13
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France captain Antoine Dupont was taken to hospital after suffering a facial fracture in their Rugby World Cup win over Namibia on Thursday.
They defeated Namibia 96-0 to continue their unbeaten start to the tournament, which is being staged in France, but suffered a major blow when Dupont was injured after a head-to-head collision with Johan Deysel. The incident occurred in the second half and Deysel was given a red card after a bunker review.
France head coach Fabien Galthie said after the match there was "a suspicion of a crack or fracture in his jaw" and the French Rugby Federation has now confirmed the extent of Dupont's injury. "Antoine Dupont has suffered a maxillo-zygomatic fracture," they said in a statement.
"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 appears almost certain France will be without their inspirational captain for their final group game against Italy on October 6, while he is a major doubt for their quarter-final clash against either Ireland or reigning world champions South Africa. Maxime Lucu and Baptiste Couilloud are the other scrum-half options in Galthie's squad who could deputise for Dupont.
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"We will leave the time for two-three days to have the opinion of a specialist," France's attack coach Laurent Labit when asked when Dupont could return to action. "It's Antoine and the surgeon who will make the decision."
Galthie has faced criticism in some quarters for not taking Dupont off earlier, with France leading 54-0 at half-time. However, the 54-year-old hit back at criticism, stating: "I knew one of you would jump in...what do you want me to tell you?
Dupont suffered a facial fracture after a head-to-head collision with Namibia's Johan Deysel (David Rogers/Getty Images)"We can't bring off 15 players since we can only bring on eight. We had planned to bring out our props and a second-row at half-time, and the other players in the 55th minute. The goal was for them to get some playing time and not stay inactive for a month.
"We can assume that we should have [brought him off], yes. But hey… the players and this team wanted to play." It is the second major injury blow France have suffered after fly-half Romain Ntamack was ruled out of the tournament after rupturing his ACL in a warm-up match against Scotland.
Loosehead prop Cyrill Baille and centre Jonathan Danty, meanwhile, made successful returns against Namibia having been out of action with a calf and thigh injury respectively. Baile, widely considered one of the best in the world in his position, was one of three players taken off at half-time while Danty was able to play the full 80 minutes.