Knee injury rules Vakatawa out of French training camp

French midfielder Virimi Vakatawa appears to be out of France’s Six Nations training camp ahead of their opener against Italy on 6 February after the 28 year-old suffered an injury over the weekend.

Vakatawa’s Racing 92 were on the wrong side of an agonising one-point game against Bordeaux in Paris, the final whistle sounding with the score at 33-32.

Rubbing salt into the wound of the loss was Vakatawa seen leaving the field early on after injuring his knee during a tackle. He was later seen on television icing his knee in the changing room.

"To say the truth, it happens. I'm sad for him, he's my brother, he's my mate, but it's rugby," said teammate Juan Imhoff.

"Unfortunately it happened to him. We don't know what he has. It's part of rugby, it happens."

While the final word on the injury is still forthcoming, if Vakatawa is unable to take part in the training camp, it is unlikely that he will be involved against Italy and, given the nature of knee injuries, could be out for longer.

It is a huge blow for France as Vakatawa has risen as one of the most potent centres of the modern era and will be sorely missed in their backline.