The images of his injury, from the 7th minute of Toulon's big victory against Racing 92 (36-24) last Saturday, led to fears of the worst for Charles Ollivon, when the third row collapsed on his own before offering a trial ball to Baptiste Serin, holding his right knee. Leaving grimacing and limping low, supported by trainers, Ollivon suspected that his Six Nations Tournament was slipping away, which he confirmed on Tuesday in a message on his Instagram account.
“I have to stop doing what I love for the moment and I'm going to have surgery soon“, wrote “the great Charles”, without specifying the nature of his injury, while several media mention a rupture of the cruciate ligament of the right knee. First captain of the Galthié mandate, before the French rugby superstar Antoine Dupont took the relay, Ollivon is an important player in the French XV, with his 46 caps, who has always been able to return to the best level despite injuries and competition.
Others absent
Precious in touch, powerful but also very mobile despite his large size (1.99 m), Ollivon will be missed by the French XV during the Tournament, despite the enormous emulation which reigns in the third line among the Blues, where there is no shortage of talent (Cros, Boudehent, Alldritt, Roumat…).
The absence of this experienced player (31 years old) is also a hard blow for coach Fabien Galthié, who will already have to cope without another of his executives, center Gaël Fickou (30 years old, 93 caps), victim of a fracture thumb and who is expected to miss at least the first two matches against Wales and England.
Other players are still doubtful after injuries suffered during the fall tour and have not yet returned to competition, such as Bayonne stalwarts Tevita Tatafu (ankle) and Toulon Jean-Baptiste Gros (hamstrings).
Toulouse left pillar Cyril Baille only returned to the field on Saturday after six months of absence and his very serious injury in the semi-final against Rochelle (rupture of the ligaments of the left ankle and fracture of the fibula). In the second or third line, Bordeaux player Pierre Bochaton, called up in November, is out (back), while Lyon player Mickaël Guillard (ankle) is uncertain.
Repeated injuries
For Charles Ollivon, this new serious injury is a setback, after a successful autumn tour. Relegated out of the group against Japan this fall by Galthié in the name of rejuvenating the squad, he responded with a thunderous entry into play the following week against the All Blacks, before putting in an impressive match against Argentina for the last match of November.
Well relaunched in Blue and in club, he saw his return to the forefront stopped short, like so many times before. In April 2017, the Basque trained in Bayonne, who has been playing in the Toulon harbor since 2015, relapsed with an injury to his left shoulder and was away from the pitch for several months. On his return in August, he fractured his shoulder blade and saw the beginning of a long ordeal: there was talk of the end of his career. He does not play again until 2019.
Returning to his best level, named captain of the France team by the new coach Galthié, Ollivon is injured again with a ruptured cruciate ligament – of the left knee this time, in 2021. The tenacious third row returns once again with the Blues, at such a level that he was named in the world men's XV of the year 2023. Until this new twist of fate, perhaps one too many for a large body already abused.
Charles Ollivon during the match between France and Italy in the World Cup
Credit: Getty Images
