France's Six Nations hopes dented by serious Anthony Jelonch injury

France are set to be without flanker Anthony Jelonch for the entirety of the Guinness Six Nations after he suffered a knee injury on Sunday in the Investec Champions Cup.

Just short of a year after the Toulouse flanker ruptured his ACL on his left knee while playing for France, he has succumbed to a new injury to his right knee.

The injury came in the second-half of Toulouse’s 31-19 win over Bath at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, but his head coach Ugo Mola downplayed the severity of the injury after the match.

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“Anthony Jelonch felt his knee move a little bit,” said Mola (translated by Google). “We’re going to wait for the exams. We preferred not to take any risks. I dare to hope that we are no further than a somewhat innocuous sensation.”

But French outlet L’Equipe  have since revealed that Jelonch has suffered another ACL injury, ruling him out of the Six Nations.

This is a cruel blow to Fabien Galthie and the France squad just before they were set to meet in Marcoussis to begin their preparations for the Six Nations.

Jelonch is a key member of Les Bleus’ squad, and was fast-tracked back into their World Cup squad last year only six months after initially injuring his knee. He returned to captain his country against Uruguay and start in the No6 jersey in their quarter-final loss to South Africa.

France get this year’s Championship started with a clash against reigning champions Ireland at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on February 2. Now Gatlhie will have a vacant No6 shirt to fill, as Jelonch was almost guaranteed to start.