{"id":334460,"date":"2023-09-27T22:20:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T22:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=334460"},"modified":"2023-09-28T02:03:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T02:03:45","slug":"the-face-of-the-rugby-world-cup-could-look-like-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=334460","title":{"rendered":"The face of the Rugby World Cup could look like this"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\ufeffAINT-ETIENNE:<\/strong> World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin has confirmed that France captain Antoine Dupont will be allowed to wear a protective face mask if he is picked to return to his home Rugby World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dupont, widely regarded as the best player in the world and the marketable face of the tournament, suffered a devastating facial fracture in the 96-0 romp over Namibia in Marseille.<\/a><\/p>\n

The halfback has undergone an operation to repair the damage but France has been coy regarding his timeline in returning to play.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from Rugby World Cup 2023 on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> Every match ad free, live and on demand in 4K UHD<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"France<\/p>\n

"At the moment it's hypothetical, there haven't been any direct discussions with the French team around a mask for Antoine," Gilpin told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

"The laws and rules are very clear on face masks… a maximum thickness of five millimeters. And what's important is that it can't be hard covering material."<\/p>\n

Another France star, \ufeffImanol Harinordoquy, donned a memorable Phantom of the Opera<\/em> style face protector while playing for Biarritz in 2010.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Gutted' rugby boss fronts on Eddie's Wallabies future<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS:\ufeff<\/strong> Grisly findings from World Cup post-mortem<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'It wasn't addressed…' Elephant in Wallabies room<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Imanol<\/p>\n

French media has speculated that Dupont is targeting the quarter-finals for a return, with defending champions South Africa looming as the most likely opponent in Paris on October 16 (AEST).<\/p>\n

Dupont referenced a naval battle board game in signalling his desire to return to the park.<\/p>\n

"Touch\u00e9 mais pas coul\u00e9," Dupont wrote in French – "Hit but not sunk" – before adding "Show must go on," in English.<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! Michael Atkinson, Sam Worthington and Tom Decent complete a grisly Wallabies post-mortem in Lyon and try to make sense of Eddie Jones threatening to turn Japanese\ufeff again<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/rugby-world-cup-inside-line\/tom-decent-details-exclusive-eddie-jones-story\/embed?in_playlist=podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Wallabies loose forward Stephen Hoiles \ufeffsaid France would do anything in their power to get their talisman back on the field.<\/p>\n

"I've got a mate who's played in something similar, like a Perspex one, and it's been done," Hoiles told Stan Sport's RWC 2023 Central<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"Stranger things have happened and you'll look as weird as you have to, to get through a game. He's so important to this French side and they're a genuine World Cup contender.<\/p>\n

\"'Rock<\/p>\n

"I'd be sticking with Dupont even if you couldn't pick him until the World Cup final. He's that good. I would keep him in that squad."<\/p>\n

Stan Sport's Nick McArd\ufeffle then asked Hoiles whether Dupont would have any reservations about wearing a mask from a looks perspective.<\/p>\n

"No, I don't think he'd be worried about the scar on his face when he's got a chance to hold the William Webb Ellis Cup," Hoiles replied.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1706911632621019433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

"So even if he dropped down – let's say he's a nine or a 10 – surgery in this day and age he'd still be between a seven and a nine.<\/p>\n

"I think there's enough French women or men out there that probably find him attractive. If he's a six or seven, he'll still be popular."<\/p>\n

France's next match is against Italy on October 7 (AEST).\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

S\ufeffAINT-ETIENNE: World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin has confirmed that France captain Antoine Dupont will be allowed to wear a protective face mask if he is […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334460"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=334460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334465,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334460\/revisions\/334465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/334462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=334460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=334460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=334460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}