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Mon 23 Oct 2017 | 03:33
Camille Lopez out for roughly 5 months after awful ankle break

7
Comments

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.

Posted By: Grant Constable

7 Comments

  • mrinjuredrugbyplayer
    8:18 PM 28/10/2017

    Meh.

    I've had worse.

    Total rupture of MCL, PCL, ACL, dislocated kneecap and torn meniscus.

    Rehab took 2 years after surgery.

  • drg
    5:33 PM 25/10/2017

    Seems like the rest of the game is taking a "better safe than sorry" stance, apart from REAL head injuries..

    We've seen huge tackles resulting in red cards and no injuries..collisions in the air doing the same etc.. all in the name of player safety...

  • dancarter
    9:56 PM 24/10/2017

    If Whitehouse believes Parra was unconscious then he shouldn't have let him return. Granted, it shouldn't be down to the referee to prevent a player returning to the pitch when they aren't fit to do so, but every other safety net to prevent this had failed. I am a level 1 qualified referee, I just started this year. It's easier said than done but I would never let a player continue after being ko'd, even if they were given the all clear to play on.

  • drg
    5:18 PM 24/10/2017

    Yes I did read about the saliva test, will be interesting to see the results.

    I understand putting g the onus in the referees is hugely unfair, it's just incredible that as has happened in a few incidents before, players who are KO'd are not kept off the field... Despite supposed regulations being in place..

  • im1
    1:58 PM 24/10/2017

    They are trialling a system this year where they test a players saliva to check if a head knock warrants the player being removed.

    Hopefully this works and proves to be an objective test of whether a player can come back on.

    The referee isn't a medical expert, so it really should be the doctors making the decision. If a team doctor makes a decision to let a player back on when they shouldn't then they risk being suspended/stuck-off as did/almost happened to the bloodgate doctor for putting a small cut in Tom Williams mouth.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41094045

  • drg
    1:49 PM 24/10/2017

    I haven't scene the Parra incident, but I can't let that stand in the way of me commenting :D

    I agree with your sentiments, I hate the litigation world, but it does make me wonder whether if the referee had some responsibility for the safety of the players, if he saw it then perhaps he should be responsible for saying Parra must go off....(I hate the idea of that kind of intervention, but it seems the conventional methods of player safety aren't all that sufficient)

  • dancarter
    8:02 PM 23/10/2017

    Ouch, poor guy. Hope he makes a quick and full recovery.

    Also, if I can make another point about injuries in this match, as at the time of posting RD haven't uploaded anything about it: the injury in this game to Parra.

    How many times are teams going to have a played knocked unconscious and then allow them to play on before they are punished for it? The referee pointed it out, and it should be pretty much impossible for the Clermont medical team to miss Parra lying face down on the ground and not moving. After being knocked unconscious, passing the HIA is irrelevant in allowing someone to keep playing. I thought the referee Whitehouse had a shocker, there is no way he should have let Parra return to the pitch.

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