FRENCH CENTRE MAXIME MERMOZ has been ruled out of the French squad for Sunday’s visit to Dublin and may be sidelined for the remainder of this year’s Six Nations.
The young French centre, who was selected ahead of veteran Yannick Jauzion for last weekend’s clash against Scotland, was substituted early in the second half after sustaining a shoulder injury.
While the severity of Mermoz’s injury is still uncertain, PlanetRugby carries comments from Marc Lièvremont in which the French coach cast doubt over any further participation in the tournament by the 24-year-old.
I think it would be complicated [for Mermoz to return]. We’re not going to talk about the nature of his injury too much and we’ll leave the treatment to his club [Perpignan]. He’s hurt his left shoulder.
If Mermoz requires surgery on his injured shoulder, it is unlikely that he will recover in time for France’s opening World Cup tie against Japan on 10 September. In the interim, Jauzion has been recalled to the French squad for the game against Ireland in the young centre’s place.
Meanwhile, replacement fly-half David Skrela is still suffering from the calf injury which saw him ruled out of his country’s Six Nations opener last weekend.
Ireland have no fresh injury concerns of their own ahead of Sunday afternoon’s game in the Aviva Stadium with all members of the squad coming through Saturday’s game unscathed.
Declan Kidney is hopeful that Jamie Heaslip, Andrew Trimble and Stephen Ferris will all recover from their well-publicised injury problems in time for selection in his squad.
