France's plan for Springboks disrupted

INJURY NEWS: France head coach Fabien Galthie will have to revisit his forward-driven strategy for South Africa and New Zealand, given the latest injury news.

France have suffered a major blow as Toulouse confirmed that hooker Peato Mauvaka has been ruled out of Sunday’s Champions Cup semifinal and “several months” with a knee injury.

According to a report from Actu’ Stade Toulousain on X, the 28-year-old ruptured his cruciate ligaments on Tuesday during Toulouse’s preparations to take on Top 14 rivals Bordeaux-Begles at the Matmut Atlantique in their bid to defend their title.

A ruptured ACL would not only rule the hooker out for the rest of the current season – where the Top 14 leaders seek to retain the Bouclier de Brennus as well – but could mean Saturday’s 52-6 dismantling of Castres was the last time he will feature in 2025.

Toulouse shared this statement on social media on Wednesday: “Peato Mauvaka will be sidelined for several months following a knee injury sustained during training yesterday.

“The whole club is behind you and supports you in this ordeal, as it will do throughout your recovery Peato.”

À la suite d’une blessure au genou survenue hier à l’entraînement, Peato Mauvaka sera éloigné des terrains plusieurs mois.

L’ensemble du club est derrière toi et te soutient dans cette épreuve, comme il le fera tout au long de ton rétablissement Peato ❤️🖤 pic.twitter.com/v1r7QBqz3K

— Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) April 30, 2025

While France were expected to take a weakened squad to New Zealand for their three-match series with the All Blacks in July, this will nevertheless disrupt Fabien Galthie’s plans, particularly with the world champions South Africa, Fiji and Australia visiting at the end of the year.

Fortunately for Toulouse and France, Julien Marchand is a handy replacement to have to fill the No.2 jersey in Mauvaka’s absence.

The six-time European champions are already without their talisman Antoine Dupont, who also suffered a cruciate ligament injury during the Six Nations, and will now have to battle on without another world-class star.

Bordeaux have already got the better of Toulouse twice this season in the Top 14, and though Dupont missed both of those encounters and Mauvaka only featured from the bench in one, being without two of their superstars will not help their cause on the Atlantic coast on Sunday.

Source: Rugbypass

Who will impress Andy Farrell in the semis?https://t.co/TFsOcqlk0C

— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) April 30, 2025