France captain Antoine Dupont is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after rupturing his cruciate ligaments during Saturday’s Six Nations match against Ireland.

The scrum-half was helped from the pitch in the 29th minute of France’s 42-27 victory following an incident with Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Porter, in which Beirne fell on his right leg during a ruck clearout.

In a post on X, Dupont said: “The heart hurts even more than the knee when you have to leave your friends before the last step. I am proud of what we accomplished yesterday and with all my strength with you, you will do it.

“Rupture of the cruciate ligaments. This is the beginning of a new challenge, I’ll see you in a few months on the field.”

Dupont was replaced by Maxime Lucu, who was the only back on their bench after head coach Fabien Galthie decided to go with a seven-one split.

Despite the loss of their skipper – widely regarded to be the world’s best player – Les Bleus built on their 8-6 half-time lead with a brilliant second half and went on to record the crushing win against their Six Nations title rivals in Dublin.

Speaking after the game, Galthie branded the incident “reprehensible” and said France had cited both Beirne and Porter in their post-match report.

“In terms of the action, in my opinion it was reprehensible and there are ways to study and analyse it,” Galthie told France 2 TV post-match.

“We feel for him today. He is suffering and we are suffering with him.”

In a post on X, France Rugby added: “We are thinking of you! We are all by your side captain. You will come back even stronger.”

Next weekend sees the final round of Six Nations fixtures due to be played and Les Bleus – who have won three and lost one game – finish their campaign with a home fixture against Scotland at the Stade de France.