Montpellier have suffered a blow ahead of their Champions Cup clash with Edinburgh after wing Nemani Nadolo was ruled out for four months.
The powerful Fijian finisher is expected to have surgery on his knee next week, with a cartilage problem forcing him to go under the knife.
Nadolo’s absence for such a large chunk of the European and Top 14 campaign is a major setback for Vern Cotter, who has had several injury problems to cope with in his squad recently. Among those currently out are Timoci Nagusa, Aaron Cruden, Francois Steyn and Johan Goosen.
Montpellier are in the same pool as Toulon, Newcastle and the aforementioned Edinburgh and begin their Champions Cup charge on Saturday.