France's Romain Ntamack Photo: PHOTOSPORT
French first-five Romain Ntamack has been ruled out of next month's World Cup after suffering a knee injury.
Ntamack was scheduled to undergo a knee scan today after limping off the field in Saturday's warm-up test against Scotland.
"Romain, our thoughts are with you. The entire group supports you and wishes you a good recovery," the federation posted on social media site X.
"I'll be back," Ntamack posted.
The loss of the flamboyant pivot is a major blow to 'Les Bleus', with the hosts kicking off their World Cup campaign against New Zealand at the Stade de France on 9 Sept. (NZT).
"Romain Ntamack, we will miss your flair, but there's no doubt you'll be close by and that this dream belongs to you as well," French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera also posted on the X platform.
Matthieu Jalibert and Antoine Hastoy are in line to replace Ntamack.
The 24-year-old was widely regarded to be one of the stars of this year's World Cup, having scored a match-winning solo try against La Rochelle to help his club side Toulouse win the Top 14 title.
He is France's number one first-five and featured in every minute of the side's 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam victory.
Ntamack also featured for France at the 2019 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals before losing to Wales.
-Reuters
