Andrew Porter's wife Elaine has revealed that they have been subject to vile abuse on social media in the wake on Antoine Dupont's ACL tear.
Dupont, widely regarded as the greatest player to ever play the sport, hobbled off during the first-half of France's demolition of Ireland in the Six Nations last weekend.
Dupont's knee buckled when he was cleared out of a ruck by Tadhg Beirne. The France captain had to be helped off the pitch and was later seen, in the stadium, being pushed in a wheelchair.
Credit: RTÉ Sport (M6N)
Beirne fell over Dan Sheehan and his right arm collapsed onto the right leg of Dupont after he was driven forward by Porter behind him. Both referee Angus Gardner and his Television Match Official, Ian Tempest, felt the injury was an unfortunate rugby incident.
Both Beirne and Porter were cleared of any wrongdoing, but France boss Fabien Galthie incited French supporters in claiming he will look to cite both players after their win.
He aadded further fuel to the fire by saying to a reporter: "What did you think about the attitude of Tadhg Beirne on the ruck that caused Antoine Dupont's leg injury - was it legal or illegal, according to you?"
Andrew Porters wife shares vile online abuse
While Beirne has not spoken publicly about the scrutiny he has received after the hit, Porter's wife Elaine took to Instagram to share screengrabs of the vile abuse she has received on social media.
Among the abuse were references to Andrew Porter's late mother Wendy, who passed away when he was 12-years-old, as well as the couple's child, who will be born in a matter of months.
Accompanying the images, she wrote: "Would never normally feed into this as I normally block and move on, but this is absolutely too far now.
Just a selection of messages I’ve received as well as my husband after Dupont’s injury.
"Obviously [Dupont’s injury] was not intentional. It was a really unfortunate injury and I hope he makes a speedy recovery but these fans are truly sickening humans.
"To come to a player’s Instagram and target them and then their wives/family is too far and head coaches should be more careful with their comments after the game because look what your fans are doing now."
Interim Ireland head coach Simon Easterby had a pointed response to Galthie's incendiary remarks, labelling what has followed a 'sh*tstorm'.
France are in pole position to win the Championship while Ireland are relying on Scotland to do them a favour when they meet this weekend.
