Toulouse will get three players back before Saturday evening’s trip to Pau. International hooker Julien Marchand, who has had a calf problem for around a month, is set to make his big return with the Red and Blacks. The other hooker, Peato Mauvaka, will be back later in the season.

Other very important returns are those of Argentines Juan Cruz Mallia and Santiago Chocobares. Selected with the Pumas for the latest Rugby Championship, the two backs will do the French champions’ attacking line a lot of good.

There is nothing to suggest for now that Mallia and Chocobares will be on the team sheet, but they will travel with the squad. Note that François Cros, Antoine Dupont, Joel Merkler, Dimitri Delibes and Joshua Brennan remain in the treatment room.