France 'extremely concerned' as Dupont suffers possible jaw fracture

France were sweating on the condition of captain Antoine Dupont after the mercurial scrum-half suffered a suspected jaw fracture during the hosts' record 96-0 victory against Namibia at the Rugby World Cup on Thursday.

Dupont sustained the injury in the 46th minutes in a head-to-head clash with Johan Deysel, whose initial yellow card was upgraded to a red.

The 26-year-old, voted best player in the world in 2021 and at the last two Six Nations, had his cheekbone iced before he walked off the field holding his jaw.

He then left the Stade de Marseille to undergo medical assessments.

"There is a suspicion of a crack or fracture of the maxillary bone," head coach Fabien Galthie said.

"He currently is in hospital, he's being tested, I can't tell you more than that. I'm staying connected and will tell you more if I hear [from him]. I'm writing to him now – live.

"We are never happy when a player gets injured. We are extremely concerned. It's not the same as if we'd had no injuries."

France were already without their number one fly-half Romain Ntamack for the World Cup after the Toulouse player suffered a knee injury in a warm-up Test last month.

"There was an interception, we were regrouping then saw the images on the big screen and we understood," flanker Charles Ollivon said of Dupont's injury.

"It was late and to the head so it was quite clear. These things happen unfortunately, but we stayed concentrated and went forward straight away. You don't have time to ponder things unfortunately."

France next face Italy in Pool A on October 6.

Les Bleus were leading 54-0 at half time and Dupont could have been put on ice but Galthie defended his choice to keep him on the pitch.

"What do you want me to say? You can't change 15 players