Antoine Dupont: France captain suffers cruciate knee injury in Six Nations win over Ireland

France captain Antoine Dupont ruptured cruciate ligaments in his knee during Les Bleus’ Six Nations win over Ireland on Saturday.

Dupont, 28, was forced off in the first half after Ireland second row Tadhg Beirne fell on his leg at a ruck.

“The heart hurts even more than the knee when you have to leave your friends before the last step,” Dupont posted on Instagram.

“I am proud of what we accomplished yesterday and with all my strength with you, you will do it.

“Rupture of the cruciate ligaments. This is the beginning of a new challenge, I’ll see you in a few months on the field.”

France head coach Fabien Galthie said there was “anger” in the French camp over the incident, which was not referred to the television match official (TMO) during the game.

Galthie said Dupont was “suffering” and that he has referred Ireland pair Beirne and Andrew Porter to the citing commissioner for possible retrospective punishment.

Dupont was replaced by Maxime Lucu, who was France’s only back replacement, and he impressed to help Les Bleus score 34 unanswered points to ensure they top the Six Nations heading into their final match against Scotland on Saturday.

Victory for Galthie’s side at Stade de France would likely secure a first Six Nations title since 2022.

Chris Jones, BBC rugby union correspondent

It is a crushing blow for French rugby and the sport in general.

We will need to see if there is any fallout from the challenge. France boss Fabien Galthie was understandably emotional after the game.

However, Galthie will be confident enough with what they have got at number nine as Dupont’s replacement – Maxime Lucu was brilliant against Ireland.

Toulouse would be right in the mix to win the Top 14 and Champions Cup, like they did last year with Dupont at the helm before he went off to win a gold medal at sevens.

It is desperately disappointing. There are players that have had their careers stalled by an injury of this severity so let’s hope he is just as good if not better when he returns.