Rugby World Cup rocked as France star Antoine Dupont hospitalised after high tackle

The Rugby World Cup has been rocked after one of its biggest stars was whisked off to hospital after a nasty high shot, dealing hosts France a severe blow.

France captain Antoine Dupont receives medical attention during his side’s clash with Namibia at the Stade de Velodrome in Marseille. Picture: AFP

France scrum-half Antoine Dupont may have broken his jaw in a high tackle that forced him off the pitch in the 96-0 World Cup thrashing of Namibia, coach Fabien Galthie said.

The influential Dupont, who had earlier scored a try, left the pitch in Marseille in the 46th minute nursing his right cheekbone after Johan Deysel made a badly-timed head-on-head tackle and was sent off.

“We have a suspected cracked or fractured jaw. We will wait for scans before moving forward,” said Galthie.

The loss of 26-year-old Dupont, widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, would be a severe blow to host nation France’s chances of winning the Rugby World Cup for the first time.

Namibia coach Allister Coetzee called Deysel’s tackle an “unfortunate accident”. “This is the way the game’s going,” said ex-Springbok coach Coetzee.

France captain Antoine Dupont went off injured after a high tackle in his side’s win over Namibia. Picture: AFP

Antoine Dupont was whisked off to hospital after the nasty clash. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s unintentional, it happened so quickly.

“Dupont is not the tallest guy. Johan is a clean player, he’s got no record of cards in the past, and he’s a great defender.

“It’s not unfair, but it’s a pity it happened to him. He’s the captain, he’s a brave player, he’s the glue of the team and he feels it.” Coetzee added: “It was an accident, an unfortunate one and we had to take that on the chin. He’s cut up right now.” Galthie admitted that the injury to Dupont had taken some of the gloss off a French record 14-try victory at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome.

“Of course when one of our players gets injured, we’re never happy, we’re always extremely concerned,” he said. “It’s not the same thing as if we had no injuries.” Galthie, who sent a text message to Dupont at the start of the post-match press conference, bristled when questioned if he’d thought about replacing the scrum-half at half-time.

“I knew I was going to be asked this,” said the former France captain.

“The programme was to change the two props.

“You can’t change all 15 players at half-time. Our plan was that we’re going to rotate the rest of the squad around the 55th minute.

“It was all about giving players game time so they don’t stay inactive for a month. This team wanted to be out there playing.”

France star Antoine Dupont maye have broken his jaw. Picture: Getty Images

France flanker Charles Ollivon said it was obvious Deysel’s tackle on Dupont was a nasty one.

“It was pretty late and his head was hit,” Ollivon said.

“It was immediately clear to everyone.” E

nglish referee Matthew Carley initally handed Deysel a yellow card, which was upgraded to red by the bunker review system.

It left Namibia to play the final 35 minutes reduced to 14 men as France ran amok.

Damian Penaud scored a hat-trick of tries while Jonathan Danty, Ollivon and Louis Bielle-Biarrey each scored two apiece and Dupont, Thibaud Flament, Baptiste Couilloud and Melyvn Jaminet all also crossed for tries, with a late penalty try completing the rout.

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Originally published as Rugby World Cup rocked as France star Antoine Dupont hospitalised after high tackle