Dupont suffers facial fracture but will remain in camp

France captain Antoine Dupont suffered a facial fracture during the hosts' record 96-0 victory against Namibia at the Rugby World Cup.

"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. Antoine Dupont remains with the France squad," the French Rugby Federation said in a statement

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 mercurial scrumhalf looks set to at least miss France's last Pool A game against Italy on 6 October and is a major doubt for their potential quarter-final clash against either Ireland or defending champions South Africa, who collide in Pool B on Saturday.

France are already without their number one outhalf Romain Ntamack for the World Cup after the Toulouse player suffered a knee injury in a warm-up test last month.

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.

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