French captain Antoine Dupont suffered a fractured cheekbone after the challenge by Namibia's Johan Deysel, which has seen him banned for six matches ©Getty Images

Namibia skipper Johan Deysel has been banned for six matches for his head-on-head tackle which fractured the cheekbone of French captain Antoine Dupont at the Rugby World Cup.

Deysel was shown a red card for his tackle in the 46th minute of France's 96-0 victory over Namibia last week.

Dupont, the 2021 world player of the year, was forced off the pitch as the host nation ran riot at Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

The injury to the 26-year-old Toulouse scrum-half was seen as a big blow to France's hopes of winning the World Cup on home soil, although the country's coaches are hopeful he will be available for the quarter-finals.

The 32-year-old centre Deysel received abuse online following the incident.

His ban meant he missed Namibia's defeat to Uruguay yesterday which saw them bow out of the tournament with four defeats from four in Pool A.

Deysel will also miss Namibia's next five games which have not been scheduled, although he can reduce this ban by a game if he attends World Rugby's Coaching Intervention Programme.

Deysel attended an independent Disciplinary Committee hearing and accepted that he deserved to be sent off.

"Having considered all the available evidence, the submissions by the player and his representative, the independent Committee categorised the act of foul play as being at the top end of the scale of seriousness of offending, having regard to the degree of recklessness involved in the offending, the vulnerability of the victim player and the significant injury to him," World Rugby said.

Namibia's captain Johan Deysel was shown a red card and has been banned for six matches ©Getty Images
Namibia's captain Johan Deysel was shown a red card and has been banned for six matches ©Getty Images

The tackle could have resulted in a ban of 12 matches but it was reduced due to a red card being shown in the first instance, Deysel's admission, his disciplinary record and his apology to Dupont.

After the game, Deysel, who plays his club rugby in France with Colomiers, said: "I really didn't mean him any harm. 

"Everything happened very quickly and I couldn't clear my head fast enough, which led to this shock. 

"I know the rules and I knew right away that I was at fault. 

"I spoke with [France head coach] Fabien Galthié immediately after the match and apologised personally and through the France team doctor. 

"Antoine Dupont is a great player and a great personality. 

"I wish him a speedy recovery."

Namibia's poor discipline was also on show in their 36-26 defeat to Uruguay, which saw Des Sethie shown a red card and two other players sin-binned.

The African country has never won a Rugby World Cup match in 26 attempts.