France may be without outhalf Romain Ntamack for their Six Nations opener against Ireland on Thursday, February 5th.
According to reports in France, the 26-year-old suffered an injury while playing for his club, Toulouse, in the Top 14 last month.
Ntamack played the full 80 minutes in Toulouse’s 60-14 win over Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle on December 28th, but was replaced at 10 by Kalvin Gourgues for their 30-27 defeat away to Perpignan a week later and did not feature on the bench.
Ntamack, capped 43 times for his country, has been a central figure in Fabien Galthié’s French team but looks likely to be out until their second-round clash against Wales in Cardiff, missing Ireland’s trip to the Stade de France the week prior.
In last year’s Six Nations, Ntamack was Galthié’s first-choice 10, starting in three of their five games.
He was ruled out for France’s second and third round fixtures against England and Scotland after picking up a red card in their opening win over Wales, but returned to the starting fold for Les Bleus’ 42-27 win in Dublin and their Super Saturday victory over Scotland which clinched the title.