Top 14: Battered and bloody - Clubs count the
cost of a brutal weekend in France
05 January 2009
The
start of a New Year usually heralds the opportunity to wipe
the slate clean and start afresh, but several players will
be cursing their luck after Round 14 of France’s premier
rugby competition brought a catalogue of injuries.
No fewer
than four players broke their noses and there were also
serious knee injuries for Castres’ English centre Phil
Christophers and Brive’s Uruguayan prop Pablo Henn.
Christophers was stretchered off during his team’s 13-13
away draw at Bayonne, and his season now looks over after
confirmation that he ruptured the internal lateral ligament
of his left knee.
Further
tests this week could further confirm the suspicion that his
anterior cruciate ligament was also damaged, leading to a
lengthy recuperation for the three-times capped 27-year-old.
Henn is
also looking at potential bad news with suspected ligament
damage in his left knee.
And
confirmation of rugby’s sometimes-brutal nature came in the
shape if squiffed noses for Sylvain Nicolas, Yann Labit,
Matt Henjak and Thierry Dusautoir.
Bourgoin’s Nicolas and Labit both broke their noses in the
bruising victory against Biarritz, while Toulon’s Henjak
sustained his injury while his side was mauled by Clermont.
Meanwhile, Toulouse’s Dusautoir had team-mate Byron Kelleher
to thank for his break after an accidental head-clash saw
the international flanker come off second best.
Thankfully none of the injuries were life-threatening but as
Toulouse winger Vincent Clerc can testify – having only just
returned from a seven-month lay-off due to ligament damage –
the road back to recovery can be a long and arduous one.
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