Dupont to sport Mona Lisa smile?
Monsieur Dupont, the song made famous by Sandie Shaw many years ago, came to mind as France's Rugby World Cup campaign potentially hit the rocks.
Antoine Dupont, to many the world's best player, may be out for months — and it will leave a terrible scar on the tournament. France's influential captain sustained a facial fracture in their 96-0 win over Namibia and is in a race against time to be declared fit for the quarterfinals. Johan Deysel has since been banned for five matches, subject to the completion of a coaching intervention programme.
Dupont has had surgery and is being advised by top surgeons about the best course of action. One of the options available to him is a mask that cannot be thicker than 5mm and it cannot contain hard substances.
Should he opt not to play, it will be a tremendous blow to the tournament as it will lose its most recognisable face. Dupont is on posters promoting the tournament all over France. One writer described his injury, and what it means to France and the tournament, as someone walking into the Louvre and defacing the Mona Lisa.
Language barrier
Getting to and from the Springbok hotel in Paris has been an adventure. The journey, which for some can take the better part of two hours to the forests north of Paris, has been laden with peril.
Two South African journalists on their way back to the city had purchased train tickets but discovered, much to their chagrin, that they were not valid when an officious conductor stopped by. "No!" he pointed out when shown the offending tickets. One of the guilty parties' comprehension of English faded rapidly when the conductor demanded a fine of €35 (R700) be settled.
Macabre machinations
That didn't leave as bad a taste in the mouth as was the case with some UK writers making their way back to the city on the same line earlier in the day. Their overland train back to Gare du Nord came to a shuddering halt before they disembarked "in the middle of nowhere". An earlier train just ahead of theirs had knocked over a person whose remains were being assembled in a body bag.
Gentle Ox
The Boks were greeted with much bemusement when they arrived via the TGV high speed train in Marseille from Paris on Sunday. They were being escorted by police through the throngs at St Charles Station who usually cram the concourse either in search of a ticket, a coffee or are just in the act of looking lost. Mobile phones were quickly plucked from pockets or handbags to snap the Boks as they breezed by. Ox Nche was particularly careful not to bump into anyone for fear of being cited.
Curious thrills
When Bok scrum coach Daan Human fronts up to the media, he gets asked about a wide range of topics related to the South Africans' game and, indeed, the Rugby World Cup. He, however, always warms to questions about his area of expertise.
Asked what gives him the biggest thrill, a pushover try, or a heel against the head five metres from your own tryline, Human's answer was as firm as his granite handshake. "100% a pushover try. I'm not going to say here what it really does to me. But anyway. For a scrum, that is the thing you dream about. For the team as well, because they deserve it."
We need a hero
The Boks may have Thor in their ranks in the shape of Duane Vermeulen, but director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was quick to banish the thought that more exist earlier this week.
Erasmus was asked about Handre Pollard and his involvement in the tournament, but the point was quickly made that expectations should be tempered. "Handre Pollard is not Superman," Erasmus said, sending the headline writers into a frenzy.
What Erasmus did not say but would perhaps have been more pertinent, is that the Boks are in need of a Deadeye Dick.
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