Antoine Dupont: the staff of the XV of France give themselves 48 hours but fear an absence of 4 weeks

2023-09-22 00:54:16

This is potentially another very hard blow for the XV of France, the one that the Blues feared the most. Hit in the face after a head-to-head collision with Namibian Johan Deysel during the Blues’ river victory (96-0), Antoine Dupont suffers from an orbital floor injury.

According to our information, the Blues staff should give themselves 48 hours to make a decision since the specialist who examined the Blues captain recommended waiting for the hematoma to resolve before making a more precise diagnosis. In any case, an absence of several weeks, perhaps four, is feared by the management of the XV of France.

The Blues play their last group match on Friday October 6 against Italy before continuing with the quarter-final (October 14 or 15) then a possible semi-final (October 20-21) and the final (October 28). . Four weeks of absence would at best mean a return for the semi-final.

After Romain Ntamack, victim of a rupture of the cruciate ligaments of the knee during preparation, the loss of the second element of the starting hinge of the Blues would be terrible. In addition to Romain Ntamack, who has just begun a long convalescence to strengthen his bruised knee, Cyril Baille was also injured during preparation. Hit in the calf, the Stade Toulouse pillar played his first minutes against Namibia.

Julien Marchand had to leave his teammates in the 12th minute against New Zealand. The hooker suffers from a hamstring muscle injury, and could only return for the Blues’ quarter-final at best. The second row Paul Willemse had to give up his place in the group to Bastien Chalureau after a thigh injury sustained in training.