Lacking game time, weak cheekbone — Dupont a threat to Boks: Rassie

France talisman Antoine Dupont may not have recent game time under the belt but he is entirely capable of pulling the strings for the World Cup hosts, South African Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus insists.

Dupont, who has been absent from the French team since September 21 when he fractured his cheekbone in their runaway 96-0 defeat of Namibia, looks set to make his highly-publicised return to the team for their quarterfinal against the Springboks on Sunday.

Monsieur Dupont was cleared by his surgeon to resume training at the start of the week and it is now really up to the player to determine whether he is ready to take on the defending champions.

Erasmus, though, is adamant the French general will be back at the helm wielding all his usual authority.

“I think a lack of fitness won't be a problem for him,” said Erasmus. “I have actually never seen him sweat on the field, he's so emotionless when he plays. He always looks so in control, obviously him being the captain.

“The whole of France, the whole world, has respect for him. I broke my jaw three times and you can actually get leaner because you can't eat [as well]. The next thing is you can't run. He is definitely a guy who is not afraid to tackle, he's a guy whose kicking and passing is still [good].

“He's a guy, when he goes into a Test match, he'll still do his tackles because it has been three weeks, his surgeon cleared him. I have no doubt he will play and it will be a big challenge for us to try to contain [him].”

Dupont, after his brush with a potential tournament-ending injury, will hope to make an impact at the business end of the tournament. Erasmus will also have similar aspirations after he too was almost shown the door earlier in the tournament.

Erasmus, who has had match and touchline bans for different World Rugby-instituted infractions, was asked to vacate his position on the touchline in the Boks' clash against Scotland in the team's opening match in Marseille.

Erasmus drew much criticism for performing water-carrying duties during the series against the British & Irish Lions in 2021, though it was well within the confines of what was then permitted.

“In the first game, I was sitting on the bench with the players. A nice match commissioner said I couldn't sit there. I said, 'I didn't know, I don't want to cause trouble but I have sat here for all the other matches'. He said to me 'no, it was an addendum to the participation agreement'.”

Erasmus had to move to his fellow coaches and they had to reintroduce a system in which they could effectively communicate with the medical staff.

“In the match I had to move up to the coaches and that is when we started putting on the lights because I couldn't talk to the medical staff. So it's really just a form of a communication, to get messages to players, but to know what medical and strength and conditioning (S&C) staff are thinking.”

He explained the system was born of necessity. “The traffic light system has four different meanings and it changes every game. When we make substitutions we sometimes want info back from the physio and S&C coaches.

“What they think, which player is the least effective or dynamic, and when we do substitutions we need information. Some people think it's kicks, other people think it's play slower, other people think it's kick wide, but for us it is just a way of communication.”

Their system will have to be crystal clear on Sunday. The Stade de France will be a cacophony of noise. It will be French fervour at its frenzied best, or worst, depending on the colours you wear.

The Boks got a taste of it in Marseille last November. Stade Vélodrome is a stadium built around a football pitch so the stands are tight and high and the crowd's influence is always keenly felt.

The Stade de France, however, is a different beast. It's 80,000-seat capacity makes it even more intimidating by sheer numbers.