France fly-half Camille Lopez has been ruled out of their final Six Nations match against title hopefuls England because of a knee injury, the coaching staff announced on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old, who has been France's number one choice in the tournament, has been replaced in the squad for Saturday's game by  Racing Metro scrum-half Maxime Machenaud.
"He (Lopez) has to rest for between four to six weeks," read a statement from the coaching staff.
France have had another disappointing campaign under coach Philippe Saint-Andre,  beating just Scotland and Italy, but still have slim hopes of winning the title.
They have to hope to beat England and for both Ireland and Wales to lose to Scotland and Italy respectively as the French are on four points and the other trio on six.
Source: AFP