Toulouse extend two injured locks and look for cover

Two new contracts and no available player. The French champions locked in the future of their number 5 shirts in the very week they lost both of them.

Emmanuel Meafou’s contract was due to expire in June 2027 and Stade Francais had pushed hard for him. The France international eventually chose to stay at Ernest-Wallon on a multi-year deal. Clement Verge, 25, courted by Bordeaux-Begles, Lyon, Bayonne and Toulon, has also signed, until 2031 according to La Depeche.

Both signatures arrived on crutches

Verge ruptured the cruciate ligament in his right knee on 28 August in pre-season and is not expected back before the spring of 2027. Meafou had surgery on the lateral collateral ligament of his left knee after the win at Vannes on 19 September, hurt on the final play. The club says he will be out for several months without giving a date.

In practice Toulouse lose their two most-used players in that role. In the Top 14 last season Verge was named in 23 matchday squads, 13 of them as a starter, and Meafou in 13, starting 12.

Three options and a market to explore

That leaves Thibaud Flament, Joshua Brennan and Efrain Elias. Brennan was the busiest of the three last season with 19 squad appearances and 18 starts in the league, ahead of Elias with 21 and 10, and Flament with 16 and 9. All three have already featured in the first three rounds.

The club is now looking for a medical joker, and the next file is already open: Efrain Elias, 22, who arrived from Argentina in 2024 and has worked his way into the rotation. Anthony Jelonch, who can play blindside or at number eight, is also close to extending despite a bigger offer from Castres, according to La Depeche.