France scrum-half and captain Antoine Dupont has been suspended for four weeks after his red card received in the victory over South Africa (30-26) last Saturday, World Rugby said in a statement on Thursday.
The World Rugby Disciplinary Committee imposed an eight-week suspension on the Toulouse player for a dangerous tackle on South African winger Cheslin Kolbe, whose feet were not touching the ground at the time of impact, a penalty reduced to four weeks because of the clean record and an apology from the French scrum-half.
Dupont admitted his fault
“The fault is there. Even if it is not voluntary, we have seen it, Cheslin (Kolbe) rocks, he could have hurt himself”, admitted Dupont (26 years old, 42 caps) just after the match about the first red card of her career.
Indisputable holder of the Blues during the Grand Slam this year, voted best player in the world in 2021 and again nominated for this title this year, Dupont will miss the last autumn test of the Blues against Japan, Sunday in Toulouse, where the Bordelais Maxime Lucu should replace him in the scrum.
In the absence of Dupont, it is the third line of the Blues Charles Ollivon (29 years old, 27 caps), the first captain chosen by coach Fabien Galthié at the start of his mandate, before giving up his place to Toulouse, who will be the captain of the XV of France against the Japanese.
The scrum-half will also miss three games with his Toulouse club: two Top 14 matches (against Lyon and Perpignan) and one European Cup, a trip to the Irish from Munster on December 11.