French skipper Antoine Dupont suffered a maxillo-zygomatic fracture during his squad's clash with Namibia at Stade Velodrome on 21 September, 2023 in Marseille, France. (Photo: Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images) 
France captain Antoine Dupont suffered a facial fracture during the hosts’ record 96-0 victory over Namibia at the Rugby World Cup on Thursday night, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) has confirmed.
“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. Dupont remains with the France squad,” the FFR said in a statement on Friday.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GettyImages-1694401666.jpg "Antoine Dupont of France leaving the field injured at Stade Velodrome. (Photo: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)")
Dupont sustained the injury in the 46th minute at the Stade de Marseille on Thursday in a head-to-head clash with Johan Deysel, whose initial yellow card was upgraded to a red.
The sensational scrumhalf looks set to at least miss France’s last Pool A game against Italy on 6 October. He is a major doubt for their potential quarterfinal clash against world No 1 Ireland or defending champions South Africa.
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France are already without their number one flyhalf Romain Ntamack for the World Cup after the Toulouse player suffered a knee injury in a warm-up test last month.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GettyImages-1694402844.jpg "It is unclear when Antoine Dupont of France is likely to recover from injury. (Photo: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)")
Since coach Fabien Galthie took over after the 2019 World Cup, Les Bleus have won a Six Nations by achieving a Grand Slam and have rediscovered their touch. Becoming one of the top favourites for the sport’s extravaganza on home soil, largely thanks to their pair of talented halfbacks.
Namibia skipper Deysel was sent abusive messages on Instagram in the comments section of his posts following the incident, L'Equipe reported. Deysel’s Instagram account has since been set to private. DM/Reuters