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 am going to have an operation soon,” wrote “the great Charles”, without specifying the nature of his injury, while several media are talking about a rupture of the cruciate ligament of the right knee.
First captain of the Galthié mandate, before superstar Antoine Dupont took over, 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 second or Third row, Bordelais Pierre Bochaton, called up in November, is out (back), while Lyonnais 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, who has been playing in the Toulon harbor since 2015, relapsed with a left shoulder injury 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 new coach Galthié, Ollivon was injured again with a ruptured cruciate ligament – this time of the left knee, in 2021.
