‘Do we just postpone the World Cup?’ – reaction to Antoine Dupont’s injury

Dylan Coetzee
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France captain Antoine Dupont after receiving a hard shot to the face.

France captain Antoine Dupont after receiving a hard shot to the face.

France captain and talisman Antoine Dupont suffered a nasty injury to his cheekbone/jaw during the hosts’ 96-0 demolition of Namibia in the Rugby World Cup.

The superstar scrum-half was orchestrating the attack beautifully with two try assists and a five-pointer to match before Namibian skipper Johan Deysel was red-carded for a high shot on him.

Massive concern

The Les Bleus captain left the field in obvious discomfort and head coach Fabien Galthie confirmed it is a suspected maxillary fracture. Reports suggest he will not require surgery but is ruled out until the semi-finals should his side make it there.

Reaction

The reaction from social media particularly on X, formerly Twitter, has been mixed with two schools of thought.

The immediate viewpoint for most was fans hoping the injury was not too bad as Dupont should be part of the global showpiece.

Former Wallaby Matt Giteau simply wants to see the best at the tournament and tweeted: “I hope for the sake of the @France2023 that Antoine DuPont is clear of any major injury.. We need the best players playing in the World Cup.”

Analyst EK Rugby Analysis agreed with the Australian as he said: “This World Cup simply isn’t the same without Antoine Dupont playing in it.

“Wishing him the very best of health.”

Rugby Inside Line added: “If we lose Ntamack AND Dupont, do we just postpone the World Cup?”

Some even suggested the Frenchman wear a mask to get back on the field.

Protecting Galthie

There was also a lot of criticism for Galthie selecting Dupont for a minor game against Namibia but some users defended the coach with Paul Edison declaring: “If the worst is confirmed, there will be lots of criticism heading Galthié’s way for leaving Dupont out there.

“It’s just bad luck though, you can’t mitigate for an accident like that.”

EK Rugby Analysis doubled down on this with another post on the topic.

“See a lot of criticism coming in for Galthié’s decision to play Dupont, but that injury could have happened in training, never mind a game,” he wrote.

“Dupont couldn’t just do nothing for 4/5 weeks after the New Zealand game, he needed game time.

“France just got incredibly unlucky tonight.”

It is a great pity to see such a massive star in the game succumb to injury but only time will tell whether Dupont’s home World Cup is over or not.

READ MORE: France v Namibia: Five takeaways from Rugby World Cup clash as records tumble but at what cost

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