France captain Pascal Pape will miss the Six Nations match against Wales in Paris because of a back injury picked up in Sunday's loss to Italy.
The Stade Français lock, captaining the side for the first time in the Six Nations tournament, was injured halfway through the second-half of Sunday's 23-18 loss and was eventually taken to hospital for tests on his back.
Coach Philippe Saint-Andre said that he would not be available for the game against the Welsh and would be replaced in the 23-strong squad by Toulon's Jocelino Suta.
Comments
lacroix says...
wales could perfrom and still lose.
one way of looking at it : france eviscerated australia, looked solid defeating samoa and argentina and, having a very off day , still only just lost (could very easily have won) to italy who produced a rare performance.....
i hope both teams -france and wales - perform at their best. in which case wales will lose, but we'll see a great match. and i'm going to be there which is what matters most :)
Posted 22:58 05th February 2013
waz4before says...
A real pressure game this one - is everyone expecting Wales to lose? But what if France lose .. wales are 8 games overdue a performance and it will come some time soon ...!!
Posted 06:19 05th February 2013
cdn_content says...
I dunno, I don't think Pape handled the the pressure of being captain very well. Could work out for France
Posted 03:40 05th February 2013
marko72 says...
Get well soon, Pascal - hate hearing of second rows having anything to do with back injuries. Just look at Paul O'Connell, wondering if he'll ever get back on the field
Posted 13:31 04th February 2013
melkdave says...
Thats a big blow for France,as i dont think T.Dustitoir is fully match fit,and didnt really deserve his place against Italy.Ironically i feel they would have done beter with Nyanga
Posted 12:42 04th February 2013
mlbp says...
I don't know if France are short on locks. Whatever happened to Julien Pierre (is he available)? Maybe he's a little old but he was good. Jocelino Suta? Romain Millo-Chluski? Maestri may not be as good as we thought... Pape will be missed, but during the time he stayed on the field he did nothing in terms of leadership or good play.
Posted 12:41 04th February 2013