Louis Picamoles will be out of action until next September at the earliest

Louis Picamoles’ season is already over after it was confirmed he ruptured cruciate ligaments in his left knee during Montpellier’s Heineken Champions Cup defeat last Saturday by Toulouse. 

Medical staff at the Top 14 club have confirmed that the long-serving France No8 will require surgery and will face a long road to recovery as he won’t be expected back in action until next September at the earliest. 

Capped 82 times by France, Picamoles called time on his international career following the recent quarter-final loss to Wales in Oita.

That decision was designed to free him up to even more feature for his club, but that won’t be the case for the rest of this season after he was stretchered off in the third minute last weekend to be replaced by Caleb Timu.

Set to turn 34 next February, it will be interesting to see if the injury impacts on Picamoles’ future at the club where he started his career before a lengthy spell at Toulouse was followed by a stint in the Premiership at Northampton. 

He returned to Montpellier in summer 2017 on a three-year deal that will expire next June. 

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