Ireland boss gives verdict on Antoine Dupont injury controversy as star faces lay-off
The French talisman hobbled off during Saturday's clash at the Aviva Stadium, with some pointing the finger of blame towards one of Ireland's players.
Simon Easterby has shared his verdict on the incident that led to France star Antoine Dupont hobbling off injured during Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Ireland. The Irish slumped to a shock 27-42 defeat at home to France, who now have the Championship in their own hands.
The France side were rocked midway through the first half when they lost talisman Dupont. The Frenchman’s knee gave way during a ruck, with Irishman Tadhg Beirne's weight collapsing onto his counterpart.
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It’s since been reported that Dupont is expected to miss up to nine months of action with an ACL injury, with some rugby fans pointing the finger at Beirne for his involvement. But according to Irish interim boss Easterby, it was nothing more than a “rugby incident”.
Speaking after the contest, Easterby said: "I think it's just a rugby incident. Tadhg [Beirne] cleans out someone in front of Antoine Dupont and he gets hit off the back of it. It happens, unfortunately. We have moved away and players have a real awareness now of clearing out on the lower limb of the player, which can create that type of injury, but that wasn't the case. He was securing his own ball and not making contact on Dupont. Unfortunately that happens. It's just one of those things unfortunately. It happens in the game."
More worryingly for Easterby is the position Ireland now find themselves in ahead of the final weekend of action. The reigning Six Nations champions will require a favour from Scotland if they’re to retain their crown and finish ahead of France in the table.
On his side’s overall performance, the Irishman said: "We certainly felt we didn't take our opportunities or put them under enough pressure. When we did it wasn't until the last 10 minutes of the game when we could score a decent number of points. But the game was gone.
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“We felt that going in at 8-6 down at half-time we were still well in the game. We were confident if we started well, which we did, that we could kick on and make them pay in terms of our fitness and our ability to go well in second halves, which we have done in previous games in the tournament. Unfortunately, we didn't take enough of opportunities in the game in their 22 and we also conceded too easily."
Ireland face Italy in Rome for their final Six Nations outing on Saturday afternoon.
