The captain of France’s national rugby team is set to return to the team before the end of the home World Cup following surgery on a broken jaw.
The French national team will have their captain and playmaker Antoine Dupont back “in a few days”. The 26-year-old exceptional talent suffered a broken jaw and underwent surgery in Toulouse on Friday.
The exact date of his return is still unknown.
“He will be able to return to the French team in a gradual recovery process and under medical supervision,” the French Rugby Federation announced.
France’s team does not play Italy at the home World Cup for another 14 days.
“Hit but not lost “
Touché mais pas coulé. Show must go on ⚔️. Hâte de retrouver le groupe ⏳
Merci pour vos messages pic.twitter.com/KCJYJp3Fit– (@Dupont9A) September 23, 2023
“Hit, but not sunk. Show must go on. Looking forward to seeing the group again,” Dupont posted on his social networks. He also expressed his thanks for the many messages and get-well wishes.
In Aix-en-Provence, where Les Bleus are staying until the match against Italy on October 6, optimism reigns after this news. “If we reach the finals of the World Cup, I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t available for the quarter-finals or semi-finals,” wrote defense coach Shaun Edwards in his column for the Daily Mail.
Most of his teammates, who are spending the weekend with their families, have posted messages on their social networks in support of their captain “Toto”.
Johan Deysel – the Namibian player who caused the captain’s injury – apologized to Antoine Dupont: “It’s clear that I didn’t mean to hurt him. It all happened very quickly and I couldn’t place my head fast enough, which resulted in a blow to the head. I know the rules and immediately understood that I was in the wrong”. He will be disqualified for the time being for his foul and will appear before World Rugby’s disciplinary committee on Tuesday.