Pro D2: Rouen and France rocked by player death

French rugby was left in mourning on Wednesday after learning of the death of Rouen fly-half Jordan Michallet.

The 29-year-old, who has also represented Bourgoin and Grenoble and was a France U18 international, was an integral part of Rouen’s rise to the Pro D2 from the Federale divisions in his three years at the club.

Points scorer

He had recently signed a three-year contract extension after excelling this season in 16 appearances, in which he had notched 157 points – he scored more than 500 in his time in Normandy.

He was found unresponsive at the foot of an unfinished building in the middle of the day after a witness claimed to have seen him fall from the fourth floor. Police tried to resuscitate him but it was to no avail.

Earlier in the day he had been involved in a road accident in which his car had hit the central reservation on Rouen’s arterial Mathilde Bridge; police are investigating the matter as suspected suicide.

“The Rouen Normandie Rugby family is deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear Jordan Michallet,” said a club statement. “This awful news plunges the whole club into immense pain. The management and the whole club are joining forces with his family in this terrible ordeal.”

Tributes poured in from far and wide, with most of France’s professional clubs expressing public sympathy, as well as several current and former players.