France lose star for Boks and All Blacks Tests

The 31-year-old, who has been capped 46 times, suffered a hernia of his cervical spine (neck) and missed French champions Clermont's 20-51 thrashing at La Rochelle on Saturday.

The Top 14 outfit said their captain "showed symptoms last weekend and passed tests that showed a hernia in the cervical spine", and that he would undergo an operation on Wednesday.

Chouly will miss France's two November Test matches against world champions New Zealand, as well as games with South Africa and 2019 World Cup hosts Japan.

Agence France-Presse