The France captain, Antoine Dupont, is in contention to face South Africa in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Sunday, having been cleared to recommence full training after a broken cheekbone.
The hosts are preparing to take on the world champion Springboks at Stade de France and the influential scrum-half’s return would be a huge boost to their hopes of progress to the last four.
After the 26-year-old visited Frédéric Lauwers, his surgeon in Toulouse, the French rugby federation said on Monday: “Antoine Dupont has obtained the authorisation to resume rugby training as early as today.”
The France team doctor, Bruno Boussagol, said that Les Bleus are “discussing the use of a helmet” for Dupont, and said the Toulouse No 9 will train fully on Tuesday. “There was no fallout from his injury, and he was able to rapidly increase the pace of his sessions with the physical trainers,” Boussagol said on Monday.
“For the moment he will train normally but we will do this in an intelligent manner. The contact and stepping it up in training will be done pretty rapidly, we have three days to test him and to see his reaction [before announcing the team] … It is unthinkable we would take the slightest risk to bring Antoine back prematurely.”
Dupont may wear protective headgear if he plays against the Springboks, although Boussagol said this remains a work in progress, and will be decided this week. “We’ve been discussing the use of a helmet,” he said.
“We’re working on it, he’s tested this kind of protection. He has to be able to train with it without his hearing or sight being impaired. We need to help Antoine get into the best possible shape. We need to be by his side so that he can be available for selection in the best possible form.”
After the win against Italy last Friday the head coach, Fabien Galthié, insisted he would not rush any player back from injury, saying: “If we put a player on the pitch, it’s because we’ve validated his ability to play.”
Dupont was injured in a head-on-head tackle by the Namibia captain, Johan Deysel, during the 96-0 pool-stage victory on 21 September, and was operated on the next day. He sat out the win against the Azzurri in Lyon that confirmed their progress from Pool A, with the No 9 Maxime Lucu proving a capable deputy alongside his Bordeaux clubmate at fly-half, Mathieu Jalibert.
Asked if he hopes Dupont plays this weekend, the South Africa scrum-half Faf de Klerk said on Monday: “It’s obviously great for France to have him back … For me personally, it’s always great to play one of the best in the world. But we’re preparing to play against France, and not just against him, although he’s a very dangerous player.”
Meanwhile the France hooker Julien Marchand remains sidelined by a thigh injury sustained in the opening win against New Zealand. “He is continuing his recovery, but it is unlikely that we will see him against South Africa,” Boussagol said.
