St Helens statement: Serious injury for Racing signing Regan Grace

New Racing 92 signing Regan Grace won’t enjoy a seamless transition from rugby league to union as St Helens, his Super League club in England, have confirmed that the France-bound back has played his last 13-a-side game for them due to a serious season-ending injury that requires an operation.

It was July 5 when the Parisians unveiled the 25-year-old Grace as one of three new signings alongside France Grand Slam winner Cameron Woki and Wame Naituvi. “The winger has joined Racing 92 from July 1 for arrival in October 2022. The Welsh international rugby league player will strengthen the club’s backline at the end of the rugby league season with his current English club, St Helens,” read a statement at the time.

Signed until the end of the 2025/26 season, Grace sadly won’t enjoy the best of starts at Racing as he ruptured his achilles in the final minute of last Sunday’s St Helens defeat to Salford and scans have now revealed he faces up to a six-month rehabilitation period after surgery.

It means he has played his last game of rugby league and is unlikely to be unavailable to debut for Racing until 2023. St Helens boss Kristian Woolf told his club’s website: “Regan has unfortunately ruptured his achilles and it is a devastating blow for him and for us as a team and a club as well.

“Regan has come through our academy and has been a big part of our club and team for a long time. He is a really valued player and a person who has been a big part of our success over the last couple of years. He has had a really tough year injury-wise, through no fault of his own, going from a bicep injury to a hamstring injury into now a season-ending achilles injury.

“The fact that he is not going to be here next year adds to the feeling and it is sad that this is the way that his Saints career at the moment has finished. We all really feel for him and know that he is well supported there by his partner Nina and obviously his family. But it is a real shame and a really sad way to see him finish.

“He will undergo surgery in the next few days and that is something the club will try and do as soon as possible for him. One thing this club does really well is to support the players in that way but also off the field. He will get all the support he needs from the club and from his teammates.

“We will make sure that when he leaves at the end of the year to go to his next club we put him in the best position we can because we want him to be successful there as well.”