He's not wearing a cape and his forehead could be strapped by a helmet – but France's Superman is back. Twenty-four days after suffering a serious fracture in his jaw during his team's 96-0 victory over Namibia, France's captain Antoine Dupont is back for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, October 15, at 9 pm (Paris time).

France's number 9 was cleared to play on Monday and has been training all week with the Bleus starting line-up. "Antoine is doing very well, he's at 100%," said French Forwards co-coach William Servat on Wednesday. "Even from a distance, when he needed to recover a bit at home, he remained involved. And today, he's even more determined."

It was 10:06 pm on Thursday, September 21, when Dupont clashed head-to-head with Namibian captain Johan Deysel in the 45^th minute of the third match of the group stage. Since then, rugby fans, worrying about the Toulouse scrum-half's facial injury, have feared that he would have to cut his World Cup short. But he was operated on in Toulouse by a specialist the very next day, and he made a rapid recovery. Quickly back with his partners in Aix-en-Provence, it soon became clear that Fabien Galthié had no intention of doing without his number 9. "If the surgeon has given the go-ahead, it's because he thinks that everything is in place. There's no need to have him go on a boxing ring to know if he can play on Sunday," said France's coach Laurent Labit on Tuesday.

So Monsieur Dupont is back, and the sun seems to be shining again on the French rugby team. "His presence alone is important for the group," said center Arthur Vincent a few days after the French captain's injury. Despite having the 22^nd most common surname in France, Dupont is unique. "When Romain Ntamack was injured at the end of the preparation period, that was serious. We think that with Matthieu Jalibert, Les Bleus have enough resources. If it happened to Antoine, that would be something else," said former international fly-half Yann Delaigue, interviewed ahead of the competition. "But that's linked to Antoine's extraordinary qualities, which don't diminish those of Romain in any way. There's only one Antoine on the planet!"

Although he recently crossed the 50-cap mark for Les Bleus (the World Cup quarter-final will be his 52^nd cap), the player is a discreet leader. "Antoine has that ability to get all the good shots and all the energy, and that's what makes him so strong," said Ugo Mola, his coach in Toulouse, interviewed in the fall of 2020. "Without any provocation, he's a kid who brings people together. He has the ability to be a central element in a group but doesn't make a big deal of it."

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