The return after his cheekbone injury of scrum half and captain of the French XV Antoine Dupont in the team which will face South Africa on Sunday in the quarter-final of the 2023 World Cup, brings a surplus of “confidence” to the Blues , they assured Friday.
The return of the Toulouse player, three weeks after his operation on a broken jaw suffered against Namibia (96-0), “changes a lot of things, it gives us a lot of confidence”, said fly half Matthieu Jalibert at a press conference.
“We know that he is capable of big differences and that he inspires fear in opponents. That allows us to have more spaces around him,” added the Bordeaux-Bègles player. “It’s always a advantage of having him with us. And even if he wears a helmet (as desired by his surgeon, editor’s note), he is at 100% of his abilities.”
“An influence on the group, the opponents and the referee”
“The whole team is very happy to have him back. It’s always a pleasure to be able to develop with him. It’s easy to adapt to his game and find complementarity with him,” added the opener. of the UBB (24 years old, 29 selections), catapulted N.1 among the Blues after the withdrawal due to injury for the entire World Cup of the Toulouse opener, Romain Ntamack.
“Antoine is the captain of the team. He has an influence on the group, on the opponents and on the referee, underlined full-back Thomas Ramos. He also has a very good kicking game and can find a gap at any time. Offensively and defensively, he’s a very good player.”
A leading figure in French rugby, leader of the French XV in search of a first world crown, Dupont received the green light on Monday from the surgeon who operated on him to resume contact training. As was the case at times on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Toulouse player will play on Sunday with a helmet for his express return as a first decisive match in front of the Springboks and their terrifying pack.
The tenure of Dupont is the only change compared to the starting XV which corrected Italy (60-7) at the end of the group phase.