France 'very confident' Antoine Dupont will return for World Cup knockouts

The great playmaker sustained a fractured cheekbone in Les Bleus' third pool stage match against Namibia last week.

France claimed a dominant 96-0 triumph over the Welwitschias, but it was overshadowed by the injury to Dupont, who was immediately taken to hospital.

It was revealed that the 26-year-old needed surgery, which he underwent at the weekend, but there were concerns that it would rule him out of the rest of the World Cup.

Those worries were immediately allayed and, since then, the French have become increasingly confident over his recovery.

The initial semi-final prediction has been revised down, with Servat insisting that Dupont will make the last-eight encounter should the French get there.

"Antoine is in great order today. The operation went very well, and he is resting," he told reporters.

"He will return for training on Sunday. Friday and Saturday are our rest days; he will have the time to return in this period of time.

"I have no doubts about his ability to play in the quarter-final. I think it is reasonable to say that."

France put themselves in a very strong position on the opening day of their home World Cup after they defeated New Zealand 27-13 in Paris.

Further victories over Uruguay and Namibia have followed, but their passage into the next round is not guaranteed.

They will most likely need to beat Italy to make sure of qualification for the quarter-finals, where they will face the runners-up in Pool B.

That could be any of Ireland, South Africa or Scotland, who are locked in a battle for the top two positions in that group.

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