THE FRONT PAGES led the lament this morning.
‘Dupont, No Joy’ wept L’Équipe, while rugby newspaper Midi Olympique had a clever headline of ‘Peur Bleue,’ a French term for terror that also alluded to the fear les Bleus now have that their talisman has been injured.
The dismay ripped through the country last night. Rugby might be well down the list of sport participation numbers in France but it has a huge following. The TV figures for this World Cup have been phenomenal so far, with a peak audience of 17 million tuning in for France’s opener against New Zealand.
And virtually all of them love Antoine Dupont. So as he walked down the tunnel with his hands on his head last night in clear dismay, the anxiety spread through France. From the northerly most commune of Bray-Dune right down to the southernmost Puig de Comanegra on the border with Spain, everyone felt Dupont’s pain.
As tends to be the case in French rugby, the information came thick and fast. We heard of Dupont’s tears in the changing room, of how he was accompanied to the hospital by his brother and his partner, who seemingly stayed by Dupont’s bedside for the night, and of the diagnosis that he had suffered a zygomaticomaxillary fracture on the right side of his face.
The latest report from Midi Olympique is that Dupont was due to leave Provence Hospital, where he stayed last night, and head for Toulouse. Awaiting him there is the highly-regarded Professor Frédéric Lauwers. And France awaits Monsieur Lauwers’ opinion.
Lauwers is an expert in these types of injury and if he decides surgery is required, the big thing will be how long Dupont is sidelined before he could possibly return to play.
The speculation is that he could possibly be back for the World Cup semi-finals or final towards the end of next month, but France aren’t guaranteed a spot there obviously. They’re likely to face either South Africa or Ireland in the quarter-finals. Without Dupont, that prospect is suddenly more daunting.
He’s the main man, the heartbeat of the side. Dupont is still only 26 but he’s already one of the best rugby players of all time. No one else can do the things he does.
Even last night, we saw his genius. Early in the first half, he did his jinking thing close to a maul, spotted the space and drilled a right-footed cross-kick low to the ground to find Damian Penaud on the bounce for the opening try. Later, he quick-tapped a penalty, slalomed past two defenders, and just as he was about to be tackled, stroked a stunning left-footed kick wide for Loius Bielle-Biarrey to finish. Incroyable.
Maxime Lucu is next in line at scrum-half but he had a bad day when given the number nine jersey in France’s laboured win over Uruguay. Baptiste Couilloud is the other option in this position and though he’s a fine player, Dupont is on a different planet in terms of ability. When out-half Romain Ntamack was ruled out of the World Cup, France at least had a brilliant back-up in Matthieu Jalibert. The drop-off at scrum-half is far greater.
Dupont is not the kind of person who roars and shouts all the time but he leads by example. His team-mates clearly adore their captain as much as the French public do.
Even before this national crisis, Dupont was everywhere. His image hangs in train stations and he is the face of huge brands like Apple and adidas. He seems to pop up on every second page of the sports papers. Dupont has even broken into the fashion world by partnering with AMI PARIS. He’s been on the cover of GQ magazine.
It helps that he’s a beautiful man. Dupont has broken whatever barrier there was between rugby and the wider world. That’s what makes this such a blow for the World Cup as a whole.
The man who was the face of this tournament has had one of those chiseled cheekbones fractured. It’s a travesty that we have been denied the chance to see him work his magic in the coming weeks, even if there is a miracle recovery and he returns.
The pessimism is spreading in France. Le Figaro interviewed a medical expert who suggested a three-month recovery timeframe. Last night, France boss Fabien Galthié was a picture of dejection as he answered questions about Dupont.
He knows France’s World Cups have taken a huge blow. The World Cup as a whole will suffer. Quel dommage.