NYSE - LSE
JRI -0.4% 12.35 $
CMSD 0% 21.18 $
CMSC -0.09% 21.29 $
GSK 1.08% 50.82 $
RYCEF -1.22% 20.5 $
RIO -1.43% 103.3 $
BP -0.45% 42.15 $
BCE 0.26% 23.46 $
NGG -0.1% 79.35 $
RELX 0.66% 36.54 $
RBGPF 0.11% 70.77 $
VOD 1% 16.04 $
BTI -0.27% 56.13 $
AZN -1.12% 162.7 $
BCC -0.03% 78.75 $
France hooker Mauvaka returns after eight-month layoff
France hooker Mauvaka returns after eight-month layoff / Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA - AFP/File

France hooker Mauvaka returns after eight-month layoff

Toulouse and France hooker Peato Mauvaka will return from an eight-month injury layoff this weekend, his Top 14 club said on Friday, just over one month before the start of the Six Nations.

Text size:

A key player with 42 caps and five starts for champions France in the last Six Nations championship, Mauvaka picked up a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee during a training session with Toulouse last April.

The 28-year-old will be on the bench against Perpignan on Saturday when the Top 14 leaders travel to play the bottom-placed team for round 14.

"His injury has progressed well, we're on schedule," Toulouse forwards coach Virgile Lacombe told a press conference.

The New Caledonian native has not played since a 52-6 win over Castres on April 26.

His return is a boost for France coach Fabien Galthie as it follows the return for Toulouse of captain and scrum-half Antoine Dupont's in early December.

Another Toulouse player, flanker Francois Cros who has been a key member of the France back row, hopes to return to action around mid-January.

Meanwhile, South African international flanker Jean-Luc Du Preez, one of Bordeaux-Begles' key offseason signings, will make his Top 14 debut on Saturday against Racing 92.

The 30-year-old Springbok, formerly with Durban Sharks and Sale, returned from the Rugby Championship this summer with a serious knee injury and has not played since June 28.

S.Pimentel--PC