The captain of the XV of France, injured since the match against Namibia, will try to come back quickly and the question of a mask is raised.
Wounded, but not sunk. After his injury suffered against Namibia last Thursday, a real race against time is underway for the captain of the XV of France. Operated on a maxillo-zygomatic fracture, Antoine Dupont is not officially out for the rest of the World Cup, but could miss, at least, a possible quarter-final. For the rest of the competition, his recovery time and perhaps the necessary “tools” made available to him may not be enough.
According to information from Midi Olympique, the idea of ??playing with a mask is under study and Antoine Dupont will meet a specialist at the end of the week. But what do the World Rugby regulations say on this subject? According to article 12, paragraph 4 of the regulations of the international federation, any rigid protection is prohibited. “No player shall wear equipment of which any part has a thickness greater than 5mm.” This clearly means that if Antoine Dupont wants a mask, he will need something tailor-made and extremely thin. In the rest of the regulations, World Rugby provides details, leaving reason for hope. “If the total thickness consists of padding material covered with fabric, the maximum measured thickness of 5mm must include the combination of uncompressed padding and fabric but this must have a maximum measured thickness of 1mm on each side padding”.
