Toulon's Manoa out for three months

The news is a blow for the Top 14 giants, coming just a day after Irish lock Paul O'Connell announced his retirement from all rugby due to injury, without ever having donned a Toulon shirt.

Manoa, who arrived in Toulon from Northampton Saints, injured his knee in the 21-29 friendly defeat by the Sharks on Friday, having previously sustained an injury in December.

The 30-year-old will miss several league games as well as the quarter-finals of the European Cup and possibly the semi-finals.

Toulon, the three-time defending European champions, currently only have Jocelino Suta, Romain Taofifenua, Thibault Lassalle and Konstantin Mikautadze in the lock department, the latter two having also picked up injuries against the Sharks.

According to coach Bernard Laporte, Toulon will look at taking on a medical joker to plug the gap left by Manoa.

AFP