Stephen Ferris is back with us once more for one of our regular rugby discussions - in association with Ladbrokes - with the topic of the day being the potentially World Cup ruining injury suffered by France's Antoine Dupont against Namibia last night.
While it has been confirmed that the best payer in the world has indeed suffered a fracture to the face, there is hope, with examples of past players playing with masks, and the much mentioned story of ex-Saracens player Brad Barritt, who suffered a similar injury but came back within days to play in a final.
Ferris also gave a personal anecdote of his own, and backed the French scrummie to come back for the semi-finals at the latest.
So, yeah, it's obviously really disappointing for him. It's disappointing for everybody watching the World Cup.
He is like Ireland's Johnny Sexton, without him they're definitely not as good, he is ever brilliant in everything that he does.
So, yeah, it's an interesting one. Like I'm not saying that his injury is similar to others, but I fractured my eye socket and cheekbone in training and was out for six weeks. I had to get a plate put in.
But I felt like you're back into like contact training pretty quickly, but it was just having to have the reins put on you to a certain extent because of the injury healing up.
Stephen Ferris Discusses Antoine Dupont's Injury
Namibia have a try chalked off and a yellow card for Johan Deysel - since upgraded to red - after a head-high hit on Antoine Dupont
The French scrum half has been replaced
📺 Watch France v Namibia live on @rte2and @RTEplayerhttps://t.co/X7cSkZilkC pic.twitter.com/6iTgxfWSzK
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) September 21, 2023
READ HERE: France's Public Enemy No.1 Speaks Out After Reckless Hit On Antoine Dupont
"So yeah, I'm sure he'll be getting all the best medical support in the world," added Ferris.
"I'm sure there'll be surgeons from everywhere flying in to have a look at these scans and to see to see what they can potentially do.
"But I would expect him to be out for two or three weeks and possibly miss a quarter final.
"But I do, I do see him playing in this competition again, I really do, even if it is a broken jaw or a fractured cheekbone, I do see him making a comeback.
"There's a bit of a Superman about Anton Dupont. Even listening to Bernard Jackman last night, he was talking about like this guy's pain threshold is through the roof, and I'm like going jeez if that was me, my world Cup would definitely be over."
SEE ALSO: CJ Stander: 'The Best Part of My Life Was In Limerick...That's Something I'll Never Go Against'
