Antoine Dupont, France’s talismanic captain and the player widely considered to be the best on the planet, has said that he ruptured cruciate ligaments in his right knee during his team’s win against Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday.
“The heart hurts even more than the knee when you have to leave your friends before the last step,” Dupont posted on Sunday on Instagram. “I am proud of what we accomplished yesterday and with all my strength with you, you will do it. Rupture of the cruciate ligaments. This is the beginning of a new challenge, I’ll see you in a few months on the field.”
The 28-year-old scrum-half limped off at the Aviva Stadium after the Ireland second‑rower Tadhg Beirne fell on his leg at the base of a ruck in the first half. The match referee, Angus Gardner, chose not to sanction the Irishman, believing it was an accident and opting not to refer the decision to the television match official.
Fabien Galthié was not convinced and expressed his frustration after the game, calling the incident “reprehensible”. “There is a suspicion of a quite serious knee injury to Antoine,” the France head coach said. “He is suffering and we are suffering with him.
“We are angry and we want an explanation; so, we have cited two players [Beirne and Calvin Nash, who received a yellow card for a high tackle on Pierre‑Louis Barassi].”
Both Irish players have avoided disciplinary action, however. Nash’s head-on-head collision with Barassi ended the French midfielder’s game after a failed head injury assessment. With France’s bench stacked with seven forwards and only one back – the scrum-half Maxime Lucu, who replaced Dupont – Galthié was forced to play the replacement flanker Oscar Jégou in midfield.
Simon Easterby, Ireland’s interim head coach while Andy Farrell is seconded to the British & Irish Lions, defended his players after the defeat. “I think it’s just a rugby incident. Tadhg cleans out someone in front of Antoine Dupont and he gets hit off the back of it. It happens, unfortunately.”
Dupont is expected to miss the rest of the domestic season with Toulouse, who lead France’s Top 14 league and have reached the Champions Cup last 16 as they bid to retain their European crown. Injuries of this nature can take six to nine months to heal, so he is unlikely to return before the autumn.
