A major muddle around the Charles Ollivon case. Due to take on Edinburgh on Sunday (6.30pm) with Toulon in the Champions Cup, the France international will not be involved after all. The reason? An independent doctor’s refusal on Wednesday to let Ollivon play, on the back of a failed final medical test.

Charles Ollivon had resumed “training normally” and “was fit to play right up to Wednesday”, Pierre Mignoni confirmed during the day.

“We followed Charles Ollivon’s return-to-play protocol after his concussion, which had not been picked up straight away. We took over, we got him back on his feet and he was 100% fit to train, and the player himself was saying he was ready to play. It was, unfortunately, a run-of-the-mill concussion protocol“, said the Var coach, taken aback.

“We are not here to cover ourselves”

The concussion in question is the one the player suffered in the match against Australia with France on 22 November.

Pierre Mignoni, for his part, is still fuming: “An outside doctor also has to sign off on the player’s return. (…) That person said no. They must surely have their reasons, (…) they are surely right. (…) But from the moment he is fit, I consider this to be politics“.

The RCT manager wrapped up by making clear that it “is out of the question to play someone who is not 100%“. “But at some point it is like the smart mouthguards. Sometimes they work and sometimes they do not. So we are into politics, we cover ourselves. Except that we are not here to cover ourselves. We are here to protect the players first, and to perform second. That is to say, to win with players who are able to play“, he went on.

Charles Ollivon will therefore take another week of rest.