Rugby World Cup 2023: France sweat over Antoine Dupont fitness after FFR confirms maxillo-zygomatic fracture

France captain Antoine Dupont’s Rugby World Cup campaign has been left in doubt after it was confirmed that he suffered a facial fracture during the win over Namibia.

Antoine Dupont picked up the injury during France's record win over Namibia.

Dupont, 26, picked up the injury in France’s record 96-0 triumph over 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 and Dupont was quickly attended to by medics before leaving the field of play and going to hospital.

The 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 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. Les Bleus are set to face world number one side Ireland, defending champions South Africa or Scotland in the quarter-finals on October 14/15.