South Africa’s Cheslin Kolbe was carted off the pitch and left in tears after picking up a suspected ankle injury as Toulon beat Lyon 27-23 in the French Top 14 on Saturday.
Kolbe scored a try at Stade de Gerland in the 36th minute. He had played five games for the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
Canal+ said that the 29-year-old sprained his ankle when he jumped off the ground after diving to land.
The winger, who played his last of 24 Tests in November, was crying as a golf buggy took him to the stands. This is a scary sight with the World Cup in France coming up in less than six months.
Samoa center Duncan Paia’aua and Fiji’s Waisea Nayacalevu also scored for the visitors, who moved into the top six play-off spots when the Top 14 resumed after a two-week break after the Six Nations.
Other places, Italy’s fly-half Champion Montpellier beat lowly Perpignan 23-22 thanks to a penalty kick by Paolo Garbisi in the 77th minute.
Georgia prop Guram Papidze crashed over for a try in Pau’s 30-20 win over Bayonne, which was the first home loss for Bayonne since January 2022.
The Basques played in front of 40,000 people at the sold-out Reale Arena in San Sebastian. It was their first game there since 2014.
Last place in the list Setareki Bituniyata, a center from Fiji, and Marcel van der Merwe, a prop from South Africa, were both shown red cards in the last 10 minutes of Brive’s 38-10 loss at Clermont in front of a packed Stade Marcel-Michelin.
Fly-half Argentina Benjamin Urdapilleta scored 14 points as Castres beat leaders Toulouse 27–17 to move closer to keeping their spot in the top flight.
The home team moved seven points ahead of the relegation play-off spot with their third win since December. Full-back and captain Julien Dumora scored twice to help them get the win.
After the break for the Champions and Challenge Cups the following weekend, Castres will play Montpellier, Toulon, Pau, Brive, and Perpignan.
“It’s another step that we’ve taken today,” Dumora said. “There are five more remaining to keep the club up.”
Second-placed La Rochelle beat Bordeaux-Begles 36–6 in front of another full stadium, 42,000 people at the Matmut Atlantique, which is the city’s football field.
Bordeaux’s lack of discipline led to them giving away 16 penalties, which helped La Rochelle win. However, they are still six points behind Toulouse.
In the Parisian derby on Sunday, Stade Francais, which is in third place, plays host to Racing 92.
Photo by Luca Sighinolfi/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix
