In the 45th minute of the France-Namibia match, Namibian center three-quarter Johan Deysel collided, head to head, with Antoine Dupont, the Blues scrum half. For this bad gesture, he received a red card, after using the bunker. This Tuesday, an independent Disciplinary Commission suspended him for six matches, a sanction which will be reduced by one week if he follows the tackling training program put in place by World Rugby.
The International Federation explains in a press release: “Having taken into account the mitigating circumstances, including the immediate recognition of the fault and the sanction, the exemplary disciplinary record of the player and its apologies to the player who was the victim of the fault, the Commission has applied the maximum reduction of 50% of the sanction. The minimum sanction he faced was 12 matches. He will miss Namibia’s final match on Wednesday against Uruguay.
While Antoine Dupont has since been launched into a race against time to return from the quarter-finals (a priori against South Africa, which was beaten on Saturday by Ireland), Johan Deysel – who had been the target of insults and cyberharassment on social networks – immediately apologized to the captain of the Blues.
“I would like to extend my best wishes to Antoine Dupont. It’s clear that I didn’t want to hurt him, he confided. It all happened very quickly and I couldn’t position my head quickly enough, resulting in a head impact. I know the rules and I immediately understood that I was in the wrong.” And the former Colomiers player in Pro D2 added: “I spoke with coach Fabien Galthié immediately after the match and I sent my best wishes and apologies to Antoine, personally and through from the French team doctor. He’s a great player and a great personality and I wish him a speedy recovery.”
In the official podcast of the competition, French second-row Paul Willemse also defended the Namibian captain. “I played with him in the U18s, with Namibia. He was a teammate and still is a friend. If there was anyone who didn’t want to do something like that, it was him. He is disgusted, admitted the second row of Montpellier. I leave him alone because I know he is disgusted. He knows he is retiring after the World Cup. He’s got the balls. I know what it’s like to play in a team that takes 90 points. You’re a little desperate, so you try things…”