This is the shock image of this Top 14 Saturday afternoon. Like a nod from fate, it happened on the lawn of the Mayol stadium in Toulon to one of the stars who shone the most in the world. within the RCT over the past decade. Mathieu Bastareaud, who became Lyon’s third row, only played 4 minutes and 5 seconds. While he had a few moments before caught up with winger Gabin Villière who pierced the field, the former three-quarter international center collapsed, all alone, on a charge in the middle of the field.
Her scream plunged Mayol into silence and brought the meeting to a halt. Hit in the right knee, the Lyon captain came out in tears on a stretcher and under the ovation of the public of the RCT which he wore the colors from 2011 to 2019, winning with him three European cups and a Brennus Shield. At half-time of the match (finally won by Toulon 19-13), the LOU staff spoke of a probable rupture of the cruciate ligaments. The player was evacuated from the stadium shortly after the break, prompting another round of applause.
Both knees affected
“It’s sadder to have lost Mathieu than the match,” railed Lyon coach Pierre Mignoni. To have lost Mathieu under these conditions, here in Mayol, it hurts us a lot. Both knees were affected, I can’t tell you more. Both knees are very rare. With all the efforts he has made, it hurts us a lot for him. It doesn’t smell very good. I thank the Toulon public who gave him a great outing, but how sad is it! He wanted to play a good game for the team ”.
It’s a new blow for Mathieu Bastareaud who was coming back from injury. At 33, the player with 54 selections with the XV of France between 2009 and 2019, captain of the Blues in 2018, left to try an experience in the United States, in New York, shortened due to the appearance of the pandemic of Covid-19, may have ended his career on Mayol’s lawn. This season, Bastareaud, trained in Créteil (Val-de-Marne) where he was born then in Massy (Essonne) before joining the Stade Français then spinning in Toulon, played only one meeting with the LOU, at the start November facing Castres. He had been operated on on his right hand in September after an eight-month absence due to a ruptured quadriceps tendon in his left knee.
