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The classy message England have sent to the injured Antoine Dupont
By Liam Heagney
England sent their regards to the injured Antoine Dupont shortly after it was confirmed on Friday morning that the France skipper had suffered a fractured cheekbone in Thursday’s win over Namibia.
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The Rugby World Cup hosts hammered the African minnows 96-0 in Marseille but the major talking point was the 45th-minute exit of the French skipper after a red-carded tackle from Johan Deysel.
The injury threatens the participation of arguably the world’s current best player in the remainder of the tournament as no definitive time frame has been established for his cheekbone to heel.
England, though, reckon that Dupont will play again at the finals and, ahead of the pool match on Saturday versus Chile in Lille, they sent the scrum-half their best wishes for a speedy recovery.
“On behalf of everyone connected with England Rugby, we’d like to pass on our best wishes to Antoine and hope for a speedy recovery,” said assistant Kevin Sinfield after England had completed their eve of stadium visit.
England have visited the stadium in Lille where they will play Chile on Saturday. #ENGvCHI #EnglandRugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/4dJ6nAX2Ln
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 22, 2023
“Disappointing for the competition at this moment in time but we have no doubt he will be back. World-class players like that get themselves right very, very quickly and I am sure he is doing everything he can.
“I know if it is a facial fracture there will be a period of time but we have seen players play before with facial fractures so I suspect he will be back on his feet and back available very, very soon and like I said, we wish him all the best.”
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Danny Care, Dupont’s fellow No9, added: “I echo what Kev said, we all send him our best. At the World Cup, you want to see the best players. Antoine is the best player in the world so we want to see him back there in a French shirt.
“The one thing you know about him is he is tough and I’m sure if he is able he will be back in a French shirt. You saw the way they played last night [Thursday] with him fizzing around, he is pretty special. For the tournament, you want to see the best players playing so we wish him a speedy recovery.”
