Camille Lopez out of France squad for South Africa tour
Saturday 3 June 2017 11:51, UK
Clermont Auvergne fly-half Camille Lopez will not join up with the France squad for their upcoming tour of South Africa, his coach Guy Noves said on Saturday.
The 28-year-old, who has won 16 caps for his country, will feature for Clermont in Sunday's French Top 14 finale against Toulon.
He was due to join up with Les Bleus in South Africa next week, but won't travel and will be rested after a long domestic season. However, Noves will not call up a replacement, for now.
"For the moment, I prefer to wait," Noves told AFP, confirming an earlier report by sports daily L'Equipe.
The coach had already chosen not to call up two of Lopez's Clermont colleagues in centre Remi Lamerat and back row Damien Chouly.
Lopez has become a first-choice for his country since François Trinh-Duc picked up an injury playing against Samoa in November, but Sunday's final will be his 31st match of the season. Seven of those matches have been for France.
France play three Test matches against the Springboks on June 10 in Pretoria, June 17 in Durban and June 24 in Johannesburg.
The Toulon trio of Xavier Chiiocci, Guilhem Guirado and Romain Taofifenua and Clermont's Arthur Iturria, Damian Penaud and Scott Spedding will join up with the France squad in South Africa after the Top 14 final.
