Dupont starts for France in World Cup quarter-final against South Africa

France captain Antoine Dupont returns to the starting XV for Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final clash with South Africa just over three weeks after suffering a broken cheekbone that jeopardised his involvement in the tournament.

The 2021 world player of the year was injured after a head-on-head tackle from Namibia’s captain, Johan Deysel, in Les Bleus’ third pool match in Marseille on 21 September, and sat out the match against Italy last Friday.

However, after undergoing surgery, the talismanic 26-year-old was cleared on Monday to return to full training, and has now been deemed ready to lead his country in this weekend’s box-office Stade de France showdown with the world champions.

South Africa, meanwhile, earlier named a surprise half-back pairing of Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach and only five forwards on the bench to face France.

Jacques Nienaber had several selection conundrums for the game, with the most anticipated being the choice of fly-half, and in naming his side on Friday gave the nod to Libbok despite misgivings about his kicking ability. He is selected over Handrè Pollard, who is seen as much more reliable with his kicking but not as innovative in the pivot post.

Reinach comes in for Faf de Klerk at scrum-half, with Nienaber saying he was better suited to dealing with the French kicking game. “We selected the team that we think will give us the best opportunity to win the game on Sunday,” the coach said.

After picking seven forwards among the replacements for their pool game against Ireland, Nienaber has gone with a 5-3 split of forwards to backs, marking a change of approach as they look to match the attacking verve of the hosts.

More details to follow