The captain of the Blues, Antoine Dupont, suffered a facial fracture yesterday against Namibia, following a high tackle. Who is Johan Deysel, the Namibian player guilty of this unfortunate act?
Biographical profile Johan Deysel, born September 26, 1991 in Windhoek in Namibia and measuring 1m84, is a rugby union player playing as a three-quarter center. He has been playing since 2018 in Pro D2, the second division of the French championship, under the colors of Colomiers. He has also played for the Namibian national team since 2013 and has 31 caps. Johan Deysel is playing his third World Cup this year, after those of 2015 and 2019, including the second as captain of Namibia. He has won 4 African Cups with his national team, for which he scored 45 career points.
Thursday evening, during the French victory against Namibia (96-0), Johan Deysel was guilty of an awkward high tackle on Antoine Dupont. The captain of the Blues could be out for the rest of the competition following a maxillo-zygomatic fracture (at the level of the cheekbone, under the eye) caused by this gesture. Namibia coach Allister Coetzee defended his player in a post-match press conference: “Losing our captain (Johan Deysel) in the 46th minute was very damaging. This is the direction rugby is heading today “today. It’s not intentional, it happened very quickly, commented the technician. Dupont is not very tall. Johan is not a mean player, he is not used to taking boxes, He’s a very good defender.” The former Springboks coach nevertheless admitted that the sanction was rather logical: “It’s not unfair, but it’s a shame that it fell on him, the glue of our team. It was an unfortunate accident” .
Since last night, Johan Deysel has been the victim of numerous insults on social networks, particularly in comments on his publications on Instagram. These insults, written in French as well as in English, are obviously unacceptable, all the more so for a gesture with certainly damaging consequences but above all involuntary and part of the inevitable risks of a contact sport like rugby.
