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FFR statement: Antoine Dupont
By PA
France captain Antoine Dupont’s Rugby World Cup campaign is in doubt after he sustained a facial fracture.
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Dupont, 26, suffered the injury in France’s record 96-0 win against Namibia on Thursday following a clash of heads with with Johan Deysel.
The Namibia centre’s yellow card for the collision in the 45th minute, with France leading 54-0, was upgraded to red following a review by the television match official.
The Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) confirmed the extent of Dupont’s injury on Friday, but said it was uncertain how long its star scrum-half will be unavailable for.
A statement from the FFR, quoted by Sky Sports News, read: “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.”
France, who have beaten New Zealand, Uruguay and Namibia so far, play Italy in their final pool match on October 6.
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Les Bleus are set to face world number one side Ireland, Scotland or defending champions South Africa in the quarter-finals on October 14/15.
“We’re like everyone else,” said assistant coach Laurent Labit. “We’re worried, we were happy with the match but it was a difficult evening for us. We’re not making any plans too soon. A surgeon will tell us more about Antoine’s availability. We’ll wait another 48 or 72 hours and then we’ll know more.”
One report (below) has given an alarming prognosis on a potential return date for the star.
No Dupont no france
All Blacks won with #4 Fly-half in 2011 so France can too
It's not an accurate comparison though.
Yes in 2011 NZ lost Carter and then their next 2 flyhalves in the pecking order however they still had McCaw despite him playing with only one good foot.
Dupont to France is McCaw to NZ, if McCaw succumbed to injury as well, NZ couldn't have won without Carter and McCaw in 2011.
That's how big a blow losing Dupont and Ntmack is for France.
ABs barely eked an 8-7 win over a French side that hated each other and their coach. Ireland and SA for sure, and hell even NZ on a good day, are ten times that 2011 French outfit.
Yes it can be done. But the French pack, as good as they are, will certainly not dominate SA and probably not even Ireland. Thus who they have pulling the strings at 9 and 10 matter oh so much more.
The main point is this is just total crap. Up 54-0 in the second half and you have some of your top players still on the pitch. “Hindsight is…” as the phrase goes, but this is a blow for rugby fans in general. It also goes to show, most of these pool matches are ridiculous (which isn’t saying anything new). When the number one aspect of a pool match is for a team to not sustain injuries instead of win the game because the latter is guaranteed, something is wrong with the product.
Rugby is a team sport. But it is amazing how an injury to a single star player can affect the odds on a team's success. Re Marx, Pollard, Dupont and others.
Exactly mate and that's the principle reason why they won't win it!
Unfortunate and wish him a speedy recovery! It makes Saturday's game even more interesting as I am sure SA and Ireland will both want to face France instead in the QF.
Ireland and SA would both prefer to face NZ in a quarterfinal as of the four realistic contenders NZ are the most unsettled and unconvincing and have the weakest bench.
However France without Dupont and Ntmack does change things significantly.
The winners of our Pool will most likely plat the All Blacks so we should loose the Ireland game.