The return after his cheekbone injury of scrum half and captain of the XV of France 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 great differences and that he inspires fear in adversaries. It allows us to have more space around him, added the Bordeaux-Bègles player. It’s always an asset to have him with us. And even if he wears a helmet (as desired by his surgeon, Editor’s note), he is at 100% of his capabilities.
“The whole team is very happy to have him back. It’s always a pleasure to be able to evolve with him. It’s easy to adapt to his game and find complementarity with him,” added the UBB opener (24 years old, 29 selections), catapulted number 1 among the Blues after the injury withdrawal. 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.”
