2023-10-11 21:34:49
2023 Rugby World Cup in FrancefileInjured and operated on September 22 for a broken jaw, the scrum half of the French XV is already able to play against South Africa in the quarter-final on Sunday evening, affirm his supervisors.
Like a Terminator that visibly self-repairs, Antoine Dupont is as good as new, his titanium plate firmly screwed to his jaw, according to his supervisors. The scrum half of the XV of France Antoine Dupont, who resumed training with a helmet at the start of the week, “is at 100% of his capacities”, assured Wednesday the forwards coach, William Servat, four days before face South Africa in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
His declaration paves the way for the captain of the Blues to be present during Sunday’s clash (9 p.m.) at the Stade de France. The suspense will be lifted within 48 hours, with Fabien Galthié due to unveil the composition of the French team at midday on Friday. Operated on the evening of September 22 for a maxillo-zygomatic fracture, Dupont (26 years old, 51 caps) began a race against time to be operational in time. Back in the group, and after obtaining a favorable opinion from his surgeon on Monday, he participated in the Blues’ training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Antoine is an intelligent person, he’s a sensible person. If he says he can play again, it’s because he is fully capable of doing so,” said third row Grégory Alldritt. “Antoine Dupont is doing very well,” assured William Servat, stressing that the Toulouse player, named best player in the world in 2021, had “remained involved” even during his rest period, “even from a distance”.
Helmet and bib
“He needed recovery but he was always concerned,” Servat added. “Today, Antoine is even more concerned since he has returned with us and he participates very actively in all the training, all the videos and everything that simply makes up the game of the France team.” Tuesday, Dupont started the session normally, chaining runs and passes without apparent discomfort, even colliding with his probable hinge partner, fly-half Matthieu Jalibert. After fifteen minutes, once the journalists had left, the Toulouse man had put on a black helmet.
During Wednesday’s high-intensity session, he again wore a black helmet with white trim, this time under the lenses of the cameras and stills, participating in the session as normal. Dupont wore a blue chasuble during this session, that of the probable holders. However, he kept his distance during the regroupings, moving to the wing. “We tested to see what it gave, to find out if it really protected or not. We wanted to check if his vision was impaired. In his hearing too, even if there was not the same noise, the same atmosphere in Rueil-Malmaison as at the Stade de France. We tried with or without. A decision will be made at the end of the week,” French attack coach Laurent Labit explained on Tuesday.
Express return
Injured on September 21 in Marseille during the river victory against Namibia (96-0), operated on the next day in Toulouse, Dupont reunited with his teammates at the beginning of October in Aix-en-Provence, initially contenting himself with light sessions. before touching the ball again and then accelerating its return. A leading figure in French rugby, leader of a French XV in search of a first world crown, Dupont received the green light on Monday from the surgeon who operated on him to resume contact training.
An express return since after his fracture following an uncontrolled tackle by Namibian center Johan Deysel, several specialists estimated the duration of his unavailability to be at least four weeks. “He has an ability to concentrate on his objectives… He is really extremely focused on his final objective, without necessarily wanting to go faster,” Dr Eric Laboute, specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the CERS of Capbreton, where Dupont went after a serious knee injury in 2018.
“It’s not given to everyone not to have too much apprehension. Sometimes we work on that, the anxieties of re-injury. When you have a personality like Antoine Dupont, the objective becomes something very important and a priority. And all his concentration is put into this objective,” he added.
Will Antoine Dupont be with the Blues against the Boks on Sunday? His return is hoped for for this titanic quarter. “Antoine has been one of the team’s biggest defenders for a number of years,” continues Servat. “He is at 100% of his abilities and there is no reason to disrupt anything,” he added, when asked about a potential defensive change to protect the star.
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