NEW ZEALAND’S SETA Tamanivalu has been sidelined for approximately two months with a back injury just days after arriving at his new club, Top 14 side Bordeaux-Bègles.
The 26-year-old, who can play at centre and on the wing, only recently joined Bordeaux from Super Rugby side Crusaders. But pessimistic reports over the extent of a back injury were confirmed when Tamanivalu was put through scans by the French club.
He is now scheduled to return to competition in January. The French side are due to host Connacht in the European Challenge Cup on the weekend of 18-20 January.
Bordeaux-Bègles, who sit eighth in the league, sacked their head coach, Englishman Rory Teague, on Monday. His compatriot Joe Worsley, the club’s long-serving defence coach, has stepped in on an interim basis.
Tamanivalu, born in Fiji, counts three Test appearances for the world champion All Blacks so far, his last coming in August 2016 against Australia in Wellington.
© – AFP, 2018 (additional reporting from The42)
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