Early Friday morning in Marseille, as I trudged wearily from the Vieux Port uphill to Gare St Charles for my train to Paris, the usual sunny blue skies had been replaced by grey somber clouds, dampness was in the air, it was as if light tears were falling from the sky.

As the lights of the cafés pierced the mirky gloom, the locals yawning wearily to work were talking in hushed tones about the match the night before, one that had given us all an emotional battering, taking us from wonderment, to concern to sadness, all in the space of eighty minutes.

On a day when Pope Francis was due to visit the southern port, there were more people than usual saying their prayers, most of them centred on one individual, Antoine Dupont.

There are certain participants in global sporting tournaments that stand head and shoulders above the rest. Jessica Ennis at London 2015, Pele at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, Zinedine Zidane at France 1998, their faces appeared everywhere and their involvement, the true greats that they are, enhanced those sporting landscapes.

The Rugby World Cup in France has Antoine Dupont adorning station concourses, bus shelters and every available billboard.

In the glory of France’ 96-0 win over Namibia, where Dupont was at his glorious best, a clash of heads with Namibia captain Johan Deysel, could have ended his tournament.

Friday’s front pages in France had only one story, and the image of the diminutive scrum half leaving the field of play in tears reached out from the news stands. Pope Francis had been relegated to page two.

The collective angst waiting for a medical diagnosis was unsurpassed, social media was awash with pleas for updates, fingers and toes were crossed for a medical outcome that would at least give the scrum half a chance of recovering in time for the latter stages of the tournament.

By Sunday the full chain of events had become clear.

Dupont was taken to the Private Hospital of Provence at 1am on Friday morning direct from the Orange Velodrome with the French team doctor and accompanied by his brother Clement following a police motorcycle escort.

He was desperate to see his team mates and returned to the France team hotel in Aix for breakfast where he managed,despite the pain, to digest some protein shakes and yoghurt.

Dupont then travelled from Aix to Toulouse where at 6pm he saw Professor Nicolas Sans,who after an MRI scan confirmed a Zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture resulting from blunt trauma to the peri orbital area.

At 11pm on Friday night, Dupont underwent surgery at the CHU Purpan hospital in Toulouse. A titanium plate was inserted by Professor Frédéric Lauwers, a surgeon specialising in maxillofacial traumatology who had already operated on Romain Ntamack after the double maxillary fracture he suffered in 2020. Dupont left the theatre at 2am.

There are hopes that the scrum half “could” be fit for the quarter finals, mere mortals take around six weeks to recover from this type of injury but as we all know “Toto” is way above mere mortal status.

More medical appointments are scheduled this week to discuss the option of wearing a protective mask, and Antoine will definitely return to limited training with the France squad on Thursday.

Maybe page two’s Pope Francis has had a quiet word with his boss, we shall find out in a few weeks time. A nation is holding its breath.