France captain Antoine Dupont is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after rupturing his cruciate ligaments during Saturday’s Six Nations match against Ireland.
The scrum-half was helped from the pitch in the 29th minute of France’s 42-27 victory following an incident with Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Porter, in which Beirne fell on his right leg during a ruck clearout.
In a post on X, Dupont said: “The heart hurts even more than the knee when you have to leave your friends before the last step. I am proud of what we accomplished yesterday and with all my strength with you, you will do it.
“Rupture of the cruciate ligaments. This is the beginning of a new challenge, I’ll see you in a few months on the field.”
Le coeur est encore plus douloureux que le genou au moment de devoir abandonner les copains avant la dernière marche. Je suis fier de ce que nous avons accompli hier et de toutes mes forces avec vous, vous allez le faire.
Rupture des ligaments croisés. C’est le début d’un nouveau… pic.twitter.com/shQK4PSLsk— ??????? ?????? (@Dupont9A) March 9, 2025
The extent of his injury and its cause was one of the main talking points following France’s emphatic victory over Ireland in Dublin.
WWe have cited two players – Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Porter – in our post-match report,” said a furious Fabien Galthie in the post-match press conference.
Speaking to France 2 TV, he added: “In terms of the action, in my opinion it was reprehensible, and there are ways to study and analyse it.
Galthie was also angered by the challenge that ended Pierre-Louis Barassi’s participation in the second half. Ireland’s Calvin Nash, in the team as a late replacement for James Lowe, was shown a yellow card following head-on-head contact with Barassi.
“We have also highlighted Nash to the citing commissioner for Pierre-Louis Barassi, who did not respond well to the HIA (head injury assessment) protocol,” said Galthie.
“We are angry and we want an explanation. We must protect our players. There are rules, regulations.”
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