France captain Antoine Dupont moved a significant step closer to playing in this weekend's Rugby World Cup quarter-final after being cleared on Monday to resume full training by the surgeon who operated on his fractured cheekbone.

The 26-year-old scrum-half suffered the injury in a brutal tackle against Namibia and was operated on on September 22 before rejoining the squad for light training a week later.

"Following his planned visit to the surgeon who had operated on him, Antoine Dupont received authorisation to resume rugby training from today," the French rugby federation announced.

Since rejoining the squad, Dupont moved quickly from bike and pool work to running drills, and Monday's green light means the combative scrum-half will be back in the thick of full contact.

That gives him a week of training at just the right time.

France topped Pool A and will take on defending World Cup champions South Africa at the Stade de France on Sunday.

Maxime Lucu deputised at number nine for Dupont in their final pool game against Italy, Baptiste Couilloud coming off the bench in the 60-7 victory.

lrb/lp/pi