France have suffered another major blow ahead of their Nations Championship campaign, as Toulouse lock Thibaud Flament has been ruled out for several weeks with a shoulder injury, according to French reports.
The 29-year-old played the full 80 minutes of Toulouse’s 45-34 Top 14 win over Bayonne on Sunday but has since been sidelined. The reports say the issue will keep him out of France’s November programme.
That leaves Fabien Galthié without Flament and Emmanuel Meafou, possibly his preferred second-row partnership, for the upcoming Tests against Fiji, South Africa and Argentina. Both will also miss the final weekend of the Nations Championship at the end of the month.
The timing is particularly damaging ahead of the November 13 meeting with the Springboks in Paris. France will view that fixture as one of the defining matches of their Nations Championship campaign, with an eye on next year’s World Cup.
Meafou is already expected to miss the autumn after suffering a knee injury last month. That leaves Galthié without the second-row pairing that was expected to anchor his pack against the world champions.
Toulouse also affected
Flament’s absence is also a significant setback for Toulouse, who begin their Investec Champions Cup campaign this weekend. The French champions face Exeter Chiefs on Sunday and will now head into Europe without Flament, Meafou and Clément Vergé, further stretching their resources in the second row.
Toulouse high-performance manager Jérôme Cazalbou said this week that Flament was being rested because of a shoulder issue. However, the latest reports suggest the problem is more serious than first indicated.
Further uncertainty for France
France are also dealing with uncertainty elsewhere in the squad. Bordeaux-Begles fly-half Matthieu Jalibert is sidelined by a thigh injury and faces a race to return for the start of the Nations Championship.
For Galthié, the loss of Flament adds to an increasingly difficult build-up to November, particularly with South Africa’s powerful pack looming in Paris.