AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (AP) — France captain Antoine Dupont was “doing as well as possible” six days after surgery on his facial fracture, a team spokesman said on Thursday at the Rugby World Cup.
Dupont suffered a broken jaw in an illegal head-on-head tackle against Namibia and had surgery the next day. He hasn't been publicly seen since the game.
The scrumhalf is considered rugby's best player and there are doubts whether the injury will allow him to return to the tournament. He can wear a mask, World Rugby has said.
“The swelling has gone down,” France team health manager Bruno Boussagol said.
"He's having some pain that's linked to the head injury, but which has nothing to do with the post-op. He's doing very well. He's in high spirits. He's quite confident.
"The plan for him is a visit to the surgeon, which is going to happen fairly quickly. It's a post-surgery visit to assess his progress and to give the first instructions. Depending on the surgeon's instructions, we'll wait for him to come back, which we hope will be scheduled fairly quickly, with some guidelines.
"Firstly, to assist him in relation to this shock, because when you have a shock like that you inevitably have secondary lesions, so we're going to have to do specific work on his jaw joint; there's specific work to be done in terms of rehabilitation.
“There's also the question of concussion. There will be a neuro checkup in a week's time, as soon as he arrives, to assess his condition so that he can gradually resume physical activity. So, for the moment, the news is reassuring, we're doing our best to support him and we hope he’ll be back fairly soon.”
Unbeaten France next plays Italy in its last Pool A match in eight days in Lyon. That's expected to be far too soon for Dupont's comeback, if allowed.
___
AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
