Mathieu Bastareaud facing another lengthy spell on Lyon sidelines

Mathieu Bastareaud will miss this weekend's start to the new Top 14 season after it was confirmed he suffered a fracture in his hand in the pre-season friendly last weekend that marked his return at Lyon from a December quadriceps tendon rupture.

The former France midfielder's second stint at the club had initially started promisingly, Bastareaud looking impressive when making ten Top 14 appearances and one in Europe last autumn after he rejoined Lyon on a two-year deal following a short-lived stay at Rugby United New York in the MLR.

Bastareaud, though, was forced off 15 minutes into Lyon’s Top 14 defeat at Brive on December 27 and his quadriceps tendon rupture was operated on three days later. It was only last weekend when he finally came back into the selection picture but hopes that he would become an early-season force at No8 have now been dashed.

The soon-to-be 33-year-old played just 35 minutes of the friendly win versus Clermont at Issoire and he will now miss this Sunday's rematch between the clubs in the opening round of the new 2021/22 French league season.

Not only that, it has been reported by Le Progres it won't be until November at the earliest that Bastareaud will be available to play again. The French newspaper reported: "Bad luck for Lyon... and Mathieu Bastareaud.

"Absent for eight months following a rupture of the quadriceps tendon in the left knee, he succeeded in a convincing return to the field last Friday in Issoire where he played the first 35 minutes of the preparation match. Unfortunately, the upturn was short-lived... Hit in the right hand during an insignificant action, Bastareaud suffered a fracture of the fourth metacarpal bone of his right hand. This injury requires a surgical operation scheduled for next Monday in Lyon.

"While the healing time is around six weeks for most people, it takes two to three months to heal for a rugby player subjected to much harsher shocks during a match. Lyon supporters will therefore have to wait until November to see Bastareaud again in the jersey."

Bastareaud initially joined Lyon as a medical joker at the start of the 2019/20 season, providing World Cup cover before moving on to his already-arranged deal to play for Rugby United New York in the 2020 Major League Rugby campaign.