Flyhalf Camille Lopez will miss France’s upcoming autumn internationals and Six Nations campaign after suffering a horrible ankle break during Clermont’s 24-7 European Champions Cup win over Northampton Saints. WARNING: The injury can be seen in the video.
Capped 16 times by France, the 28-year-old number ten was left writhing in agony after a tackle from Piers Francis caught his leg, resulting in an awkward landing that caused the instant fracture.
Replays of these type of things aren’t usually shown, but BT Sport apologised for the French broadcasters’ incoming feed, which replayed the incident more than once.
The game was stopped for a lengthy period as he was attended to, while the crowd chanted his name and players went over to show him support.
The injury was later diagnosed as a broken left ankle which will sideline Lopez for “around five months”, according to coach Franck Azema.
Clermont also confirmed that he underwent surgery on Saturday night.
Lopez had been expected to star in the November internationals against world champions New Zealand on November 11, South Africa on November 18 and Japan seven days later.
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