Elissalde and Nyanga miss out

Toulouse suffered a double blow to their preparations for Saturday's Top 14 Final on Tuesday, with scrum-half turned fly-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and flanker Yannick Nyanga both ruled out through injury.

Toulouse suffered a double blow to their preparations for Saturday's Top 14 Final on Tuesday, with scrum-half turned fly-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and flanker Yannick Nyanga both ruled out through injury.

Both players were assessed for injuries picked up in Sunday's semi-final victory on Monday and the results on Tuesday were grim.

Elissalde has suffered a rib injury, and Nyanga a tear of his adductor muscle.

Other players carrying injury from the semi-final win over Stade Français are Thierry Dusautoir, William Servat, Cédric Heymans and Maleli Kunavore, who will all undergo further testing on Tuesday.

Coach Guy Noves now faces a dilemma at fly-half. His resources have been scant all season, with Elissalde doing an admirable job of filling in.

Yannick Jauzion has also played there, and there is the emerging talent of Mathieu Belie to consider. But also in the frame are soon-to-be discarded Gaffie du Toit and Valentin Courrent, who would bring the experience that Belie could not.