Vermeulen out of Six Nations
France and Clermont number eight, Elvis Vermeulen, has a fractured rib and will miss the rest of the tournament. Louis Picamoles (Montpellier) has received his first call-up to the national side as a replacement.
France and Clermont number eight, Elvis Vermeulen, has a fractured rib and will miss the rest of the tournament. Louis Picamoles (Montpellier) has received his first call-up to the national side as a replacement.
Vermeulen, who was unlucky to miss the Word Cup due to injury, left the field in France's Six nations opener at Murrayfield after taking a blow to the thorax.
The 28-year-old loose forward started Tuesday's light training session, but was forced to stop due to the pain in his rib. He is expected to be out for between four to six weeks and will thus miss the rest of the Six Nations.
Vermeulen, who has been hailed as one of the stars in France's new young side, must be cursing his luck after having to withdraw from Les Bleus' Word Cup side just two days after his inclusion in the 30-man squad due to discal hernia.
Part of last Sunday's starting XV against Scotland, the native of Senlis received glowing praise from coach Marc Lièvremont for his performance. It now seems he will have to wait quite some time before receiving his next (10th) cap.
Vermeulen's replacement in the French squad, Louis Picamoles, who turns 22 on Tuesday, is scheduled to arrive in Paris on Wednesday to report for duty.
However, Julien Bonnaire is expected to replace Vermeulen in the starting line-up. Bonnaire had a good game coming off the bench against Scotland.
Nicolas Mas could replace Julien Brugnaut at lock after he had an average game on the 'wrong' side of the scrum for him.
Jean-Baptiste Elissalde is expected to start against Ireland on Saturday despite a niggling ankle injury. The experienced scrum-half did not participate in Tuesday's training session but rather followed specific training program with the team physios.
The final starting line-up is expected to be announced on Wednesday.