Antoine Dupont fractured his jaw against Namibia on September 24th, but no word yet on whether he will line out against the Springboks on Sunday
Devices have been worn before, and players have competed days after breaking bones in their face, and Dupont is back training with the squad wearing a scrumcapFrance's scrum-half Antoine Dupont, using a head guard, attends a training session at the Stade du Parc in Rueil-Malmaison on Wednesday. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Imageson Wednesday.
“We did that to see whether it protected him or not,” said French backs coach Laurent Labit on Wednesday. “We wanted to check whether it hindered his vision. Also regarding his hearing, even if at Rueil-Malmaison there is not the same level of noise or the same atmosphere as at the Stade de France. We tried both with it on and off. We will take a decision at the end of the week.
If Dupont is selected to play with a fracture, he won’t be the first professional rugby player to do so. England centre Brad Barritt was labelled “the Terminator” after undergoing surgery on a fractured cheekbone only five days before Saracens’ Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster in 2018. In 2010 Biarritz and French number 8 Imanol Harinordoquy broke his nose after an accidental collision with Sebastien Chabal before a home Heineken Cup clash with Munster in San Sebastián. Dubbed “Phantom of the Opera”, the French backrow arrived with a spectacular-looking protective device that covered the top half of his face, and which would be prohibited today by World Rugby under the provision that precludes “any equipment which has rigid materials”.
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