And France breathed. ” Touched but not sunk. Show must go on. I look forward to meeting the group again. » In three sentences on social networks, Antoine Dupont re-oxygenated the country. Rugby’s national superhero is still alive. The hope of seeing him again in “his” World Cup remains. A comeback from the quarter-finals is even being considered. If the workers were not superstitious, from today they will no doubt avoid under the stairs and avoid dark alleys to possibly meet the gaze of a black cat.

Touched but not sunk. The show must go on ⚔️. I look forward to seeing the group again ⏳
thanks for your posts pic.twitter.com/KCJYJp3Fit

— ??????? ?????? (@Dupont9A) September 23, 2023

These few words from Dupont also put an end to, or at least eased, the 24-hour panic. We in the rugby world don’t remember such a wind of suffering surrounding the France XV player. The battle for information has reached significant proportions. Controversy over the Friday afternoon operation quickly spread. Indeed, half of the bone underwent surgery at Toulouse University Hospital to treat his maxillo-zygomatic fracture. But 11pm on a Friday night. ” Few days […] he will be able to return to the French national team in a gradual recovery process and under medical supervision », the French Rugby Federation said in a press release on Saturday morning.

A gradual return

Even though the surgery necessarily involves a longer recovery time, the staff is now fixed. Approximately one month forecast is visible. Antoine Dupont is on forced rest for a week. A gradual return to the field will then begin. Enough to rest Fabien Galthié for a while.

The coach was on standby since Thursday evening. At the press conference after the victory against Namibia (96-0), he presented himself with a phone in his hand. “If I have any news, I will send it exactly like this ” he said with a smile. A smile we didn’t know if it conveyed nervousness. Also, the tone used throughout this question/answer game was quite light. As in this announcement regarding the case of Paul Bowdehent, who was released under concussion protocol as soon as he came into play: “He was playing bowls like foosball. He took his cloak and went out.» Let the room and Charles Olivon, sitting next to him, burst into laughter.

Galthié had mastered himself. There was no emotion, a far cry from the tears that accompanied his speech a month earlier when he told his players that Romain Ntamak had withdrawn from the World Cup.

There, the fact that there is a chance to see Dupont on the mend gives the staff a glimmer of hope. Playing a long-awaited quarter-final against one of the world’s top two nations in three weeks without Dupont changes everything.
“No one is irreplaceable“, it seems. But in 2002, no one replaced Zizou. And we saw the result.