France full-back Brice Dulin will miss the November Tests with a leg injury

France full-back Brice Dulin will miss the November Tests after he was ruled out of action for around seven weeks.

The 24-year-old Racing-Metro star, who has been capped 18 times, has suffered a stress fracture in his left shin.

Dulin said: "We noticed the crack at the end of the training camp with the French squad on Wednesday.      

"As a result of the tests I have been told to rest for four to five weeks in order to get the bone to regenerate.                 

"If I had continued to put pressure on the bone it would have broken completely and that would have cost me a lot of time.    

"I am disappointed but I am consoled by the fact that it could have been more serious." 

Dulin’s main challenger for the full-back role with France, Maxime Medard, is also a doubt as the Toulouse back had to come off before the half-hour mark in their Top 14 game with Lyon on Saturday.

The 28-year-old, capped 40 times, had scored a try and set one up before he felt a pain in his groin and asked to be replaced.

"I heard my groin give way and after taking a few more steps I felt it was painful. I couldn't have gone on for much longer so I thought it best to be replaced by a fit player.              

"I am afraid that it is serious but we will see. We have taken the first steps to try and heal it by putting ice on it.

"I will go to Marcoussis (the French training centre) on Sunday and undergo scans either then or on Monday.

"I have been injury free for several weeks but they are part of life of being a rugby player. That is life."    

The main contenders to replace Dulin, and perhaps Medard, in the France squad are Bayonne's South African-born full-back Scott Spedding, Dulin's Racing-Metro team-mate and Sevens international Fijian-born Vereimi Vakatawa and Brive's Gaetan Germain.

France open their autumn campaign with a match against Fiji next Saturday.