La Rochelle scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec, who was expected to be back-up to Antoine Dupont for France in the Six Nations, is likely to miss the start of the tournament after announcing on Monday he will be sidelined "for the moment".
The 23-year-old picked up a thigh injury in the dying moments of La Rochelle's 25-24 Champions Cup defeat by Leinster in Dublin on Saturday and it now looks likely to keep him out of the tournament opener against Ireland on February 5.
"Very disappointed to be sidelined for the moment," he said on Instagram.
"Thank you for your messages and see you very soon."
Le Garrec gave no further details about his injury but sports daily L'Equipe reported he was injured while converting La Rochelle's final try in the 77th minute.
What initially seemed to be just a simple cramp turned out to be a thigh tear, the same type of injury that sidelined Le Garrec for a month after France's first Autumn Nations Series test against South Africa, which Les Bleus lost 32- 17 at the Stade de France.
L'Equipe also reported Le Garrec is likely to be out for at least three weeks, ruling him out of the tournament's showpiece opener at the Stade de France.
Le Garrec is the third of Fabien Galthie's scrumhalves to be struck down by injury.
Clermont's Baptiste Jauneau, who replaced Le Garrec during the Autumn Series, suffered a lesion behind a thigh just after Christmas and will be out for seven weeks, while Bordeaux-Begles's Maxime Lucu injured his right knee during the Top 14 match against Racing 92 on January 3.
France's No 1 scrumhalf and captain Antoine Dupont only returned to playing for Toulouse at the end of November 29 after six months out following a right knee ligament rupture in Ireland during the 2025 Six Nations.
Galthie will announce his 42-man squad for the opening game next week.