France ‘extremely concerned’ after Dupont suffers possible jaw fracture

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

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

"He 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.

"We are never happy when a player gets injured. We are extremely concerned."

Dupont sustained the injury in the 46th minute 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 left the Stade de Marseille to undergo medical assessment.

France were already without their number one flyhalf 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.

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

France next face Italy in Pool A on October 6.

Les Bleus were leading 54-0 at halftime 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 at halftime. We planned to change number 1 (loosehead prop), 3 (tight-head prop) and 5 (lock) at halftime and rotate around 55% (of the team)," he said.

"The role of this game was to give people game time."

Dupont and almost all the usual starters had been rested for France's second game, which they won 27-12 against Uruguay.

He reverted to his "premium" team for Thursday's game and the side delivered, scoring 14 tries as they routed the opposition.

Winger Damian Penaud touched down three times, becoming the first French player with a try in six consecutive tests.

"He has proven his potential today. This evening was a special game," said Galthie.

"The players stayed concentrated and played as a team. Damien came into this group, he was given space."

France did not take anything for granted against an embarrassingly weak Namibia side.

"We wanted to play the game, we didn't think it would necessarily go this way," said Ollivon.

"We worked during the week on finding space and we were effective in that area but this is collective work to create space out wide.

"When we were 54-0 up, staying serious and committed is what brought us this record score."

Reuters