France’s hopes of lifting a first rugby union World Cup suffered a setback on Friday when tests confirmed that skipper Antoine Dupont could be out of the tournament after suffering a facial fracture during the 96-0 romp past Namibia in Marseille.
“Antoine Dupont has suffered a maxillo-zygomatic fracture,” said the Féderation française de Rugby 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.”
Dupont sustained the injury in the 46th minute at the Vélodrome on Thursday night in a head-to-head clash with Johan Deysel. The Namibian skipper’s initial yellow card was upgraded to a red.
France, who were leading 54-0 at the time of the collision, racked up another 42 points without their captain against the 14-man Namibians – many of whom play in amateur sides in their country.
Since taking over as head coach Fabien Galthié has built a side around the dash and dare of Dupont and his Toulouse teammate Romain Ntamack.
The fly-half was ruled out just before the competition with a knee injury.
Loss
Galthié’s assistant coach, Laurent Labit, said on Friday that the squad would know by Monday how long Dupont would have to spend on the sidelines.
France’s final game in Group A takes place against Italy on 6 October in Lyon.
Read more on RFI English
Read also:
New Zealand trounce Namibia for first win at Rugby World Cup
Coetzee calls on his Namibians to enjoy New Zealand challenge at World Cup
Six Nations: France boss Galthié anoints Jalibert as fly-half for ‘Le Crunch’
Article courtesy of
Source link
