Stade Toulousain lose Clément Vergé for eight months

Stade Toulousain will begin the new Top 14 season without Clément Vergé for a lengthy period, forcing the reigning French champions to address a major gap in their second-row options. The 24-year-old sustained an anterior cruciate ligament tear in one knee during a tackle at Toulouse’s training camp in Girona last week.

Vergé is expected to miss around eight months, although a return in the spring remains possible. He was absent from Toulouse’s only warm-up match, a 54-47 win at Bayonne on August 28, and will not be available for the league opener against La Rochelle on September 6.

The injury removes a player who became an important part of Toulouse’s rotation last season. Vergé featured in 20 matches and was used to cover for absences during the international periods. He was also among the replacements when Toulouse defeated Montpellier in the Top 14 final in June.

Toulouse have begun searching for a medical joker, though options are limited so close to the start of the campaign. The club still has France internationals Joshua Brennan, Thibaud Flament and Emmanuel Meafou, as well as Argentina’s Efrain Elias, in the position. Vergé remains under contract until June 2027 and is valued internally, while Lyon and Toulon have monitored his situation. His recovery now takes priority over any decision about his future.