France suffer major injury blow ahead of Rugby World Cup

France flyhalf Romain Ntamack was ruled out of the Rugby World Cup overnight because of a knee injury, robbing the tournament of one of its star players.

The 24-year-old Ntamack ruptured cruciate ligaments in his left knee in the second half of the 30-27 victory over Scotland in a World Cup warmup on Saturday, the team said following scans.

Matthieu Jalibert is set to fill in as Ntamack’s understudy when the tournament begins in France on Sept. 8.

“Romain, we are thinking of you a lot,” the French rugby federation posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The whole group is supporting you. We wish you a good recovery.”

In his own post, Ntamack wrote: “I’ll be back.”

The exciting half-back partnership between Ntamack and halfback Antoine Dupont has been one of the key reasons behind France’s improvement under coach Fabien Galthié since the last World Cup in 2019.

France, which has never won the World Cup, is one of the favourites.

Prop Cyril Baille could also miss the tournament after sustaining a calf injury against Scotland that will keep him out for up to six weeks.

England received bad injury news Monday when halfback Jack van Poortvliet was ruled out of the World Cup after sustaining an ankle injury in a warmup match against Wales on Saturday.

England flyhalf and captain Owen Farrell is set to learn on Tuesday whether he will miss the start of the tournament through suspension after being sent off against Wales for a dangerous tackle. A disciplinary panel will meet to determine the length of any ban.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission